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Why the West should Discourage Japanese Military Expansion
in the largest volume of bilateral trade in history. They are
intertwined with investment, production and consumption,
and 10 million Chinese work in Japanese firms [Samuels,
2007, p136]. In a situation of rising Japanese and Chinese
power and cooperation, it is likely that Western influence in
Asia could decline, and attempts by the US to retain such
influence could lead to resentment and conflict [Matthews,
2003, pp88-89].
While America dominated Japanese foreign policy, hostilities
by Japan or alliances forged in opposition to Western
interests were precluded. This facilitated détente with China,
and pro-Western policies throughout Southeast Asia.
Encouraging independence in Japanese foreign policy holds
a wide potential for developments inimical to Western
interests. As this is the case, expressions of this
independence should be limited as much as possible. While
the likelihood of Japan attaining a UN Security Council seat
is extremely low, and China has already made its opposition
clear, the West should oppose the goal in order to limit
Japan’s ‘Great Power’ ambitions [[Pyle, 2007, p334]. And if
rising Japanese nationalism can be seen as a threat, then
reference to past Japanese war atrocities remains important
for discouraging the careless embracing of those ideas by the
Japanese public, and maintaining the vigilance of the
international community against their repetition. As much
as many analysts want to promote Japan’s new foreign
policy as the ‘natural’ transition to becoming a ‘normal’
power, I believe that the American decision to encourage this
transition is short-sighted and may result in detriment to
Western interests.
References
Bukh Alexander, Japan’s National Identity and Foreign Policy: Russia as
Japan’s ‘Other’, London: Routledge, 2010.
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