Japan’s proactive security outlook: What it means for India?
The region of East Asia has become an epicentre of conflicts primarily because of China’s growing military dominance and North Korea’s increasing missile arsenals. These efforts of China and North Korea are leading the region of East Asia to instability and Japan faces the maximum threat perception as Japan’s security, sovereignty and territorial integrity are under serious threat. Japan is under the United States of America’s security umbrella and the US isn’t liked by both China and North Korea as there is a constant tussle for power between the US and China and the US has put sanctions on North Korea for their missile build-up. Despite, being under the US security cover, Japan has realised the need to increase its self-defence and so, over the years, Japan’s security dynamics is facing a paradigm shift.
Security Paradigm Shift
According to the Japanese Defence White Paper 2011, “China has been steadily increasing its defence budget, modernising their military force especially their nuclear and missile force along with strengthening capability for extended-range power projection”.[1] Further, the White Paper also suggested that China had been expanding and intensifying their maritime activities in and around the surrounding waters which not only lacked enough transparency but also a concern globally and regionally”.[2]The Defence White Paper of 2011 also highlighted the developments made by North Korea in the domain of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles along with managing a large-scale special operations force and these developments pose a major challenge to the international as well regional security.[3] Thereby, this was the first time that Japan had highlighted its explicit concern over China and North Korea.
On 27 December 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke about “Asia’s Democratic Security Diamond” where he opined that “increasingly the South China Sea seemed to be become ‘Lake Beijing’ where their Navy would set base their nuclear-powered attack submarines and soon, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Navy would use their newly built aircraft carrier to scare China’s neighbours”.[4] He explained that if “Japan allowed China to take over the South China Sea, then the South China Sea would become even more fortified, the freedom of navigation which was vital for Japan and South Korea would get curtailed and the naval assets of the US wouldn’t be difficult to enter”.[5] This opinion by Prime Minister Abe gave the international scenario about Japan’s stance on the South China Sea and China and how wasn’t ready to get bullied by China.
Viewing the security scenario of Japan, Prime Minister Abe decided to review the Peace Constitution of Japan and emphasised upon Article 9, which according to Prime Minister Abe was “a limitation on Japan’s rights to have a fully functional defence force which would include offensive military capabilities”.[6] These efforts were important because according to the Japanese Defence White Paper 2014, Japan was worried as “China was continuously increasing its defence budget at an all high along with reinforcing its military forces and these asymmetrical military capabilities were strengthen creating attempts to change the status quo by coercion”.[7] These developments by China were seen for many years but were highlighted extensively since 2014 due to the continuous efforts of China to change the status quo had started. In fact, in 2015, when the Peace and Security Legislature took place, it had allowed the Self-Defence Forces to assist its allies in certain situations.[8] Though this Peace and Security Legislature met with a lot of resistance, but Japan was extremely worried and had to do something in order to deal with the multiple threat perceptions. 2016 saw “the highest nuclear tests conducted by North Korea with 40 ballistic missiles flying over Japan and this kind of unprecedented behaviour by North Korea made it a serious and imminent threat to the security of Japan”.[9]
The period from 2014 to 2019, Japan was constantly garnering regional and international support against North Korea’s missile build-up and China’s increased defence budget and military capabilities but the year of 2020 was when Japan finally spoke up about the China threat being a real-time concern. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga known to be a solid taskmaster had taken the discussion to continue on the lines of his successor to strengthen the defence perspective of Japan and improve the security environment of Japan and his efforts could be seen in the increase in the defence budget. Japan’s “defence-related expenditures for the year of 2020 had been increased to 61.8 billion yen which was a 1.2 per cent increase and was the highest in the last eight years”.[10] The defence expenditure was increased to contribute in the “domain of building space capabilities, enhance cyber defence group, research and development on devices to tackle the jamming of the electromagnetic domain, procurement of P-1 patrol aircraft and SH-60K patrol helicopters, the establishment of a temporal unmanned aerial vehicle unit and squadron of aerial refuelling and transport and finally, wok on a comprehensive air and missile defence capabilities”[11] to name a few.
Further, in the present times (2021), the newly elected Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida recently highlighted that “Japan could use the pre-emptive strike against enemy bases as a defensive measure like China and North Korea”.[12] The Japanese Cabinet approved 770 billion yen ($ 6.8 billion) extra defence budget so, as to purchase missiles, anti-submarine rockets and other weapons as an escalation of military concerns over China, North Korea and Taiwan.[13] The increase in the defence budget is a must as Japan plans to invest in acquiring US-made PAC-3 interceptor missiles and KC-46A tanks to refuel its F-35 fighters.[14]
It is important to understand that over the years, Japan has tried its level best to maintain cordial relations with China and North Korea and has refrained from taking any steps against China and North Korea. The constant defiance showcased by China and North Korea has led Japan to rethink its polite dialogue and cooperation strategy. Japan has always tried to maintain a harmonious relationship with its neighbours and has maintained the security balance in the East Asia region by not going nuclear. But despite Japan’s repeated pleas to have a secure and safe environment in the East Asia region, China and North Korea have continued on their own ways neglecting the broader goal of stability, peace and prosperity in the region. Japan has been compelled to take the step forward in order to secure its territorial integrity and sovereignty and work on protecting its self-defence which would only be possible by increasing their defence budget and taking a pre-emptive stance against China and North Korea. Thereby, it can be clearly said that China and North Korea have been key players in forcing Japan to rethink its security paradigm shift and upgrade their security situation.
Japan’s shift in Security Paradigm, means what for India?
India’s relation with Japan is that of an all-weather friend. Over the years, the relations between these two countries have evolved from historical and cultural to economic to strategic to defence. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in his iconic speech “The Confluence of Two Seas” in the Indian Parliament highlighted the importance of India in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan through its “Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy” and India through its “Act East Policy” are friends intertwined in working towards quality infrastructure. One of the reasons why India and Japan are so close is the ‘China threat factor’ and both countries constantly face issues with China. In fact, Japan has always been the first country to globally support India whether during the Doklam issue or the Galwan issue.
With the change in Japan’s security paradigm, India clearly benefits from Japan’s stance of strengthening itself militarily. India could expect the Japanese Self-Defence forces to help India in the Indian Ocean region where China has very conveniently been using its ‘string of pearls strategy’ against India. Japan is known for building quality infrastructure and Japan could help India not only deal with Chinese aggressiveness in the Indian Ocean but also help stronger relations with other South Asian and Indian Ocean region countries by investing in infrastructural projects and relieving the countries out of China’s debt trap. Japan would like to help India in the Indian Ocean region as it would like to use it as a counter tactical method against China and pressure China to withdraw from roaming around near the Senkaku Islands.
Japan has increased its defence budget to procure American weaponry and machinery and that would be beneficial for India too as India could get greater access to Japanese and the US defence equipment and strengthen their defence standing against China. Also, Japan understands the need for finer and better-quality weapons and India with its self-reliance could help supply India made weapons to Japan which would help India strengthen its defence manufacturing industries. All this would help in an overall increase in the stronger relations between India and Japan.
Japan has been extensively investing in electromagnetic technology to tackle China and India with its excellent technical support could combine with Japan’s technological support and that would create an excellent mechanism of developing greater defence technologies especially dealing with cyberattacks and securing defence secrets through cyber security. Finally, with Japan becoming militarily stronger, Japan would like to further strengthen the QUAD which would highlight India’s position globally even more and strengthen India’s position as a net security provider in South Asia to tackle China’s hegemony.
Notes
[1] Japanese Defence White Paper.(2011),National Defense Program Guidelines for FY 2011 and beyond (Approved by the Security Council and the Cabinet on December 17, 2010), Ministry of Defence. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/156820/Japan%20program%20guidelines%202011.pdf
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Abe, Shinzo.(2012). Asia’s Democratic Security Diamond, Project Syndicate, 27 December 2012. https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/a-strategic-alliance-for-japan-and-india-by-shinzo-abe
[5] Ibid.
[6] Walton, David.(2020). Japan: Article 9 conundrum rears its head again, The Interpreter, 24 February 2020. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/japan-article-9-conundrum-rears-its-head-again.
[7] Japanese Defence White Paper.(2014).Security Environment Surrounding Japan, Ministry of Defence. https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11591426/www.mod.go.jp/e/publ/w_paper/pdf/2014/DOJ2014_1-1-0_web_1031.pdf
[8] Walton, David.(2020). Japan: Article 9 conundrum rears its head again, The Interpreter, 24 February 2020. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/japan-article-9-conundrum-rears-its-head-again.
[9] Japanese Defence White Paper.(2018).Security Environment Surrounding Japan, Ministry of Defence. https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11591426/www.mod.go.jp/e/publ/w_paper/pdf/2018/DOJ2018_1-1-1_web.pdf
[10] Japanese Defence White Paper.(2020)Build-up of Defense Capability and Defense-Related Expenditures in FY2020, Ministry of Defence. https://www.mod.go.jp/en/publ/w_paper/wp2020/pdf/R02000032.pdf
[11] Ibid.
[12] Mattoo, Shashank.(2021). India and US breathe a sigh of relief as Fumio Kishida secures control over Japan, The Firstpost, 3 November 2021. https://www.firstpost.com/world/india-and-us-breathe-a-sigh-of-relief-as-fumio-kishida-secures-control-over-japan-10108291.html
[13] Japan seeks extra defense budget amid China, N Korea concern, The Times of India, 26 November 2021.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/japan-seeks-extra-defense-budget-amid-china-n-korea-concern/articleshow/87932901.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
[14] Tiwari, Sakshi. (2021). Japanese PM Warns Of Pre-Emptive Strikes Against Enemy Bases Amid China, North Korea Tensions, Eurasian Times, November 29, 2021 https://eurasiantimes.com/japan-pre-emptive-strike-amid-china-north-korea-tensions/
Pic Courtsey-https://www.brookings.edu
(The views expressed are those fo teh author and do nto represent views fo CESCUBE.)
