Japan is more concerned than ever
about China’s increasingly aggressive actions
So it’s deepening ties with the US
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
Japan has been a pacifist nation since World War II, even with the Soviet Union right in
its backyard.
That’s mostly because the US forced Japan to adopt a pacifist constitution.
But now Japan is changing its tune—and the US seems to be ok with that.
Guess why?
The Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly threatened Japan.
In fact, the CCP might be the biggest threat to Japan, other than
Weeaboos.
Which would be the worst invasion?
Tough call.
The Chinese Communist Party has proven that they’re willing to strike at Japanese territory.
Like during the PLA’s military drills around Taiwan.
China also continues to encroach on the disputed Senkaku Islands with boats and fighter jets.
This has forced Japan to scramble warplanes almost daily.
Japan also sees how the CCP repeatedly uses economic manipulation to advance its political
goals and build up its military.
Japan wants to deter China from starting a war, which is why the country has moved away
from pacifism.
Last month, Japan released its newest National Security Strategy.
Japan singled out China as its greatest strategic challenge, and it increased military spending
to levels not seen since World War II.
If you want to learn more about Japan’s military buildup, check out my previous episode
in the link below.
But Japan sees that it can’t deal with China alone.
Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with US President Joe Biden in Washington,
DC.
Both leaders vowed to bolster the US-Japan alliance to counterbalance China.
And Biden commended Japan’s military buildup.
It’s a huge U-turn from decades ago when US officials said they never wanted a rearmed,
resurgent Japan.
Kishida’s meeting with Biden was just days after US and Japanese foreign and defense
officials made a series of joint announcements at the Security Consultative Talks in Washington,
DC.
One big announcement was the reorganization of the US’s 12th Marine Regiment.
That’s an artillery unit based in Okinawa.
Which is not too far from Taiwan.
It would be reconstituted as the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment.
“Littoral” refers to waters close to the shore.
This is huge because the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment will be a force that’s “key to
expanded Pacific security cooperation.”
In other words to counter China.
They’ll be stationed by 2025, which sounds pretty far off in the future.
But is actually less than two years away, because what is time anymore.
Don’t tell me how long ago the ‘90s were, I don’t want to know.
The US and Japan also signed a deal to foster research on emerging technologies and improve
defense supply chains.
Which sounds boring but is very important.
Probably.
On top of that, the US will temporarily deploy MQ-9 Reaper drones in Japan for maritime surveillance
over the East China Sea.
And Japan has begun construction of a new base for US jets,
which will be just east of the East China Sea.
Again, where China has been encroaching.
The US and Japan also expanded defense cooperation to counter potential attacks from space.
Personally, I’m looking forward to when all wars are fought in space.
Which I will cover on my new channel, Space Unfrontiered.
Which is a combination space news and Star Trek rewatch channel.
Oh, also Babylon 5.
I’m sure the 19 people who subscribe will love it.
Anyway, these agreements between the US and Japan are significant.
But the US isn’t the only country Japan is relying on.
I’ll explain more after the break.
Welcome back.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been on an international tour to bolster a
united front to counter China.
It’s kind of like Japan’s going around and getting the band back together.
Except the band is a bunch of countries who fought against them during the last world
war.
Before visiting the US,
Kishida visited France, Italy, the UK, and Canada.
Kishida worked to deepen partnerships and cooperation with Western powers.
Especially with the UK.
The UK recently became the second country after Australia to sign a Reciprocal Access
Agreement with Japan.
It’s essentially a defense agreement.
This lays the foundation for increasing bilateral military exchanges and training.
And it allows the two nations to deploy their armed forces in one another’s countries.
The agreement makes it a lot easier—for example—for a British destroyer to visit
Japanese ports, or to bring Royal Marines to work with Japan’s amphibious forces.
Sounds tentacley.
Japan also opened negotiations with Canada to share military intelligence.
It’s no coincidence that Japan visited all these countries.
All of them plus Germany are members of the G7, and Japan will host this year’s G7 summit
in May.
Japan wants the G7 united against China to prevent East Asia from being the next Ukraine.
This includes standing firm on China’s “economic coercion.”
Japan gets that we all messed up when we started fostering economic ties with China.
Japan’s economic minister said it was a mistake to assume that deepening economic
interdependence would unquestionably bring about a peaceful world following the end of
the Cold War.
Which...I could have told you ten years ago, but... better late than never.
And better from a world leader than some guy on YouTube.
Anyway, Japan finally recognizes that the free trade system helped legitimize authoritarian
regimes and gave them the resources to increase power.
That’s why Japan wants greater coordination on export controls with like-minded democracies.
This isn’t easy.
Japan for example still hesitates to restrict chip exports to China, which the US is doing
to cripple China’s semiconductor supply chain.
But if it does, China would feel even more pain with the US and Japan working together.
Predictably, all this international cooperation angers China.
My favorite Chinese state-run media The Global Times says Japan needs to “sober up” and
stop being paranoid.
And that Japan risks turning itself into the “Ukraine of Asia.”
Ok, hang on a second.
What does that mean?
Is China threatening to invade Japan now?
Because that’s what it sounds like.
Or are they just hoping the US will give Japan billions of dollars, plus boatloads of weapons,
and encourage people to put the Japanese flag on their Facebook profiles?
Well, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin , “anyone
seeking to jeopardize and risk the security and stability of the Asia-Pacific will be
rejected and pushed back by countries across the region.”
At least that, I agree with.
Except as it looks now, with all that Japan is doing, it’s more likely to be China that
gets pushed back.
And now, as a thank you to all my wonderful fans who support China Uncensored through
the crowdfunding website Patreon or the exclusive social media platform Locals, I’ll answer
one of their questions.
Today’s question comes from:
Bruce Johnson on Patreon “Hey Chris, with the looming population
crisis in China and their failed attempts at correcting this, what extreme measures
do you see China taking in the future?
Is anything off the table?
Would they implement extreme measures involving forcing women to become pregnant?
Or perhaps go full dystopian future by simply cloning people, once the technology is proven?
One thing is certain, it's a crisis that threatens the only thing the CCP values...power.
So I can't imagine they'd just let this happen without doing everything possible to prevent
it, no matter how extreme it may be.”
Good question, Bruce.
China is definitely facing a serious demographic crisis.
Last year, its population actually decreased for the first time in decades.
Mainly this is from the one-child policy.
It’s possible Covid will also soon have a big impact—though it’s yet to be seen
how many people will die from that.
I’ll have a more detailed video about China’s demographic crisis out later this week.
But one thing’s for sure: No matter how things go, the CCP will take extreme measures
to change it, thereby making things worse.
Forced pregnancies?
Entirely possible.
Human cloning?
What could go wrong?
Download people’s consciousness into robots?
Sure, why not?
Thanks for your question, Bruce.
And thank you to everyone who watches and supports us on Patreon.
If you’re not a supporter already, check out Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored.
Learn how you can contribute to the show, while also getting some cool perks—like
me answering your questions on the show.
The link is below.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell, thanks for watching China Uncensored.