Opinion | Historical irony of US claiming 'nuclear protection' for Japan

The Financial Times has described Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States, which is mired in the "black gold" scandal, as the most significant upgrade to the US-Japan relationship in more than 60 years. The "biggest upgrade" to the US-Japan alliance is a dangerous anti-China game.

The US-Japan alliance is in a geopolitical conflict, and the alliance, which has been "upgraded on the largest scale," will exacerbate it. Japan has become a key piece in the United States' game of severe competitiveness with China as a result of its historical guilt and realistic anxieties. Kishida constantly pointed the finger at China in interviews with US media before his high-profile tour, which not only established the anti-China tone for his visit but also underscored the US and Japan's strategic alignment on anti-China aims.

Because of this, the US gave Fumio Kishida high-level diplomatic treatment, providing him adequate face, and President Biden emphasized that the US-Japanese alliance is "unbreakable," giving Fumio Kishida, who is deeply embroiled in the scandal, the courage to deal with the domestic troubles. On April 10, Biden and Fumio Kishida met bilaterally; military cooperation was a major topic of conversation between the two leaders, and approximately 70 agreements were reached on US-Japan defense cooperation. The main contents include:

First, the US-Japan military partnership should be strengthened. Updating the Security Treaty between the United States and Japan, such as improving the command and coordination capabilities of the United States Forces Japan (USFJ), would allow the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to better coordinate and cooperate with the USFJ. Strengthening bilateral operational planning and military drills to address possible so-called "crises" in the Diaoyu Islands and the Taiwan Strait. Secondly, the US-Japan-Philippines Trilateral Summit will be held, which is also the first time for the three sides to hold such a summit. The third is to explore the informal inclusion of Japan in AUKUS. Fourth, the US and Japan are upgrading their national defense communication networks and strengthening Japan's "Out-of-Area Strike" capability, including giving Japan access to the Tomahawk ground-attack missiles, supporting Japan's ship renovation and training programs, and jointly developing with Japan a "Glide Segment Interceptor (GSI) missile" to counter China's "regional hypersonic weapons threat," and so on.

Japan has never been out of the US loop.

This serves as the foundation for the "largest escalation" of the US-Japan alliance, and it is rife with aggressive implications aimed at China at every step. Furthermore, the Kishida administration has previously identified China as an unprecedented strategic challenge and explicitly mentioned it in Japanese official papers. Furthermore, the Japanese government has regularly included the so-called "peripheral issues" in the US-Japan security framework. Not only does Tokyo seek to bring the Diaoyu Islands and Taiwan into Japan's sphere of influence, but it is also using the United States' might to threaten China and seems willing to initiate a conflict with China in the Diaoyu Islands and the Taiwan Straits.

Under the US global containment policy against China, the US believes that Japan would be at the forefront of US anti-China operations in the Indo-Pacific region. In truth, Japan has never been able to break free from the United States in terms of geopolitical anti-China, economic containment, and military opposition to Beijing. However, the US-Japanese alliance's anti-China actions have displayed the largest scale of escalation, resulting in a broader spectrum of risks.

On the one hand, expanding the US-Japan alliance to bolster "joint deterrence" against China would neither improve US leadership or Japan's feeling of security. This is because China will not tolerate anti-China games that threaten China's core interests. When the US and Japan reach out too far and touch the Diaoyu Islands, especially in the Taiwan Strait, China will be determined to defend its core national interests at all costs. As a result, the escalation of the US-Japan alliance would not only put China-US-China-Japan ties in a condition of stress and hostility, but it will also send shockwaves throughout the Western Pacific, triggering a cascade of global threats.

On the other hand, the US-Japan alliance has been strengthened, and the Philippines, which has been engaged in a "dangerous game of hide-and-seek with China in the South China Sea," has been included. The US and Japan's intention to use the Philippines to stir up the South China Sea is evident. It seems to be very simple to screw up the South China Sea, but if you are not cautious, you will bring chaos in the South China Sea and also burn the US and Japan.

Is it true that the US will engage in a confrontation with China? If that were the case, the Biden administration would not have repeatedly emphasized that it would not start a Cold War with China, there would not have been the "San Francisco Vision" between the two heads of government, and Biden would not have made the promises he did during the recent phone call between the two heads of government. Let us not forget that US Treasury Secretary Yellen has just returned from a visit to China, Secretary of State Lincoln will also go to China, and the US-China Economic and Financial Group is holding institutionalized talks.

"Nuclear protection" or "nuclear threat"?

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that US-Japan ties should not be oriented against or threaten the interests of other nations, nor should they undermine regional peace and stability. China strongly rejects the cold war mindset and the practice of small group politics, as well as words and actions that spark and exacerbate disputes and risk other nations' strategic security and interests.

What is even more astonishing to the international community is that Biden has openly promised to protect Japan with nuclear weapons. It is, to some extent, ironic that Japan is the only country to have suffered from atomic attacks because of the United States. Now that the US has vowed to safeguard Japan with nuclear weapons, the worldwide community is filled with dread. Worse, Biden's promise to Kishida to defend Japan with nuclear weapons is more of a "nuclear threat," based on the misguided belief that China would attack Japan with nuclear weapons, while the US and Japan are strongly threatening China with these huge and lethal bombs. The nuclear threat to China is a risky game and a foolish decision - under the threat of nuclear war, no nation is secure.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, where the US is deeply involved and cannot extricate itself, in which US aid to Ukraine has been interrupted by the US election, and in which the European members of NATO are at each other's throats, is heading toward the risk of a major war in Europe or even a bigger one in the world. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel's excessive violence triggered global outrage and embarrassed the United States. In particular, the Red Sea Crisis has led to repeated attacks on US trading vessels. Will the US be willing to go to war with China? Therefore, no matter how large the US-Japan alliance is upgraded, and no matter how loud the anti-China clamor is, it can only be an anti-China game played by the US and Japan. It is dangerous, nevertheless, to go too far.