The China Hawks Strike Back
I don't understand the significance of this report by the left-leaning Asahi about the emergency scrambling by SDF jets on September 11 and 23, 2007 in response to PRC bombers near the Shirakaba/Chunxiao gas fields in the East China Sea. Is it a bipartisan reminder of the perfidy of Beijing meant to sour the latest Sino-Japanese summit?
Or, is it a piece of the "bluster and fear" Japan Observer (and the comments section is must-read, too) claims is the Japanese right's only strength?
One problem with this approach is that unless Japan rids itself of its security relationship with the US in near future, Japan's conservatives are dependent on the US government's sharing their views on Asia. Japan alone is not in a position to force China to change on any of the issues identified by Mr. Komori as problematic. Any confrontational approach would have to occur in sync with the US, with the US taking the lead. As we have seen in regard to both North Korea and Taiwan under the Bush administration, there is no guarantee that Washington will be on the side of Japanese conservatives even under a bellicose Republican administration. (On the economic front, though, perhaps Mr. Komori and his ilk should hope for a Democratic victory.)
Despite their lack of a concrete and constructive foreign policy agenda — no, the arc of freedom and prosperity does not count — the conservatives will undoubtedly step up their pressure on Mr. Fukuda on foreign policy in the New Year.
Just another little taste of how exciting 2008 could become...
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