News Analysis: Japan Covets Southeast Asia, Diplomatically and Militarily (CHINA)

Japan has been taking diplomatic and military aim at Southeast Asia since the beginning of this year. In the first place, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and other senior government officials visited Southeast Asian countries, indicating that they would strengthen cooperation with these countries in the economic and security fields; then Japanese Marine Security Agency sent out large patrol boats to the Southeast Asian water areas under the pretext of attacking pirates, thus sounding the bugle call for Japan's military advance into Southeast Asia. What's the intention of Japan's diplomatic and military advances into Southeast Asia?

Controlling Southeast Asia's Economic Security Lifelines

The geographical position of Southeast Asian countries is extremely important, located between the Pacific and the India oceans, it guards the Strait of Malacca and many other vital sea hubs. The region has always been looked upon as an area of strategic importance and as the most important economic sea route by Japan. After Japan launched a sneak attack on the Pearl Harbor during World War II, it immediately marched it troops westwards and occupied Southeast Asia, showing the great importance Japan placed on the strategic position of Southeast Asia.

After Japan was defeated, it was no longer able to control Southeast Asia by means of war, therefore, under the circumstances of rapid Japanese economic development, Japan has tried hard to control Southeast Asia by economic means, and its most crucial method for this is to establish new control over Southeast Asia through constantly strengthening aid to this region.

Statistics show that Japan's aid to Southeast Asia accounts for over half of its foreign aid. In recent years, Japan's economic aid to many countries has been decreasing every year, but its aid to Southeast Asian countries has been on the rise, its aim is expressed exactly its great attention given to the strategic position of Southeast Asia, it is to control Southeast Asia's economic security lifeline through economic infiltration stepwise.

The strategy of countries with a history of expansion is invariably one of continuity, they invariably try by various means to reach their strategic goals. Koizumi's visit to five Southeast Asian nations is an important link of Japan's strategy for external expansion. the aim of his visit is crystal clear, that is, to place Southeast Asia under the wings of the Japanese economy through so-called economic cooperation with Southeast Asia, thereby controlling the economic security lifelines of these countries. On the question as to how to control Southeast Asia, a common understanding has been reached in the Japanese government, that is to establish an economic community with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) with Japan at the core.

Controlling Southeast Asia's Military Security Lifelines

After the Cold War, Japan regarded expansion of its military activity scope, the outward extension of its military tentacles and interference in regional affairs by military means as an important link in its big-power strategy. After its new "outline of defense program" was published in 1995, Japan extended its marine traffic protection line for the scope of the activities of its marine self-defense force from 1,000 nautical miles set in the 1970s to 2,000 nautical miles, which includes Australia and the Strait of Malacca.

Thereafter, Japan constantly sought opportunities to expand the scope of its military activities, particularly after the "surrounding situation bill" was adopted in 1999, Japan incorporated most Asian areas, including Southeast Asia, into the scope of the "surrounding situation". In October 2001, taking advantage of the opportunity offered by American counter-terrorism, Japan passed the "anti-terrorism special measure bill" and two other bills. Japan also sent large war vessels to the Indian Ocean via the Southeast Asian water area, the scope of its military activities was thus larger than before. The aforesaid moves have laid a solid foundation for its interference in regional affairs by military means.

Japan has all along been taking great pains to really extend its military tentacles to the Southeast Asian region, and it chose the breakthrough point by sending Japanese war vessels to the Southeast Asian water areas under the pretext of attacking pirates. In recent years, Japan has always claimed that the rampant pirates in Southeast Asia have constituted threat to Japanese merchant ships, particularly great threat to Japan's import of crude oil. In fact, as statistics show, Japan's merchant ships have almost never been attacked by pirates, only a merchant ship of Japan was hijacked in October 1999.

In November the same year, during a summit meeting between Japan and the ASEAN nations, the Japanese Prime Minister strongly demanded dispatch of war vessels to Southeast Asia to attack pirates. In February 2000, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman indicated that Japan intended to send war vessels to the Strait of Malacca to crack down on pirates. Japan's voyage to the said Strait had gone beyond what it said the 2,000 nautical-mile water area. Later, it formulated a plan for regularly sending large patrol boats (carrying helicopters and heavy weapons) to Southeast Asian countries to lash at pirates and, in February this year, it formally sent large patrol boats to the Southeast Asian water area.

It can thus be seen that Japan's aim is to realize military expansion toward Southeast Asia, while the entry of patrol boats made a breach for this expansion.

Besides conducting bilateral exercises with some Southeast Asian countries in recent years, Japan has also participated in the US-led multilateral maneuvers (such as "golden cobra), so as to build up Japan's ability for its future military interference in Southeast Asian military affairs, as well as for the right to exercise so-called collective self-defense with the United States. Japan has also established "strategic defense partnership" with the Philippines, and it will strengthen its military cooperation and military exercises with the Philippines.

Protecting Economic Benefits by Military Means

Beginning in the early 1990s, Japan has witnessed fundamental change in its State strategy along with the tremendous change occurred in the world pattern, the crucial point of which is the need to grasp the opportunity of change to develop Japan from a world economic power into a world political power. In this process, there arises the question as to how to position Japan's military force in the State strategy. The 1992 "White Paper on Defense" stressed the important position of Japan's military force, "As a means for ensuring security, diplomatic effort is indispensable, but military force cannot be replaced by any other means or force."

Since then, this viewpoint has been repeatedly expounded by Japanese leaders in their speeches, pointing out that military means is the ultimate means for protecting Japan's national interest, particularly overseas economic benefits. It was against such a background that Japan sought to dispatch military forces overseas and has since 1992 made three breakthroughs in this respect, first, passing the "bill of dispatching troops overseas", thus making a breach in the dispatch of troops overseas; second, passing the "law on the surrounding situation", which incorporates most Asian areas, including Southeast Asia, into the scope of Japan's military expansion; and third, passing the "law on special anti-terrorism measures", thus further widening the scope for its dispatch of troops overseas. Considering the importance of the strategic position of Southeast Asia, Japan has always regarded this region as a very important link in its military strategic adjustment.

In fact, Japan had its military and economic strategic schemes after World War II. Particularly when Kishi Nobusuke became Japanese Prime Minister in the 1950s, militarily, he encouraged the United States to regard Southeast Asia as a link in US effort to advance its containment strategy, and economically, step up its infiltration into Southeast Asia; it regards Southeast Asia as a political stage for it to lead the "freedom countries" in Asia and the only road it must take toward world economic expansion, it even looks upon it as a key area for realizing a new "Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere". To this end, Kishi Nobusuke intended at that time "to incorporate Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries into Japan's sphere of influence and turn it into a medium-type imperialism". Thereafter, Japan time and again attempted to include Southeast Asia into its own economic sphere of influence.

Japan's strategy has come down in one line. In the future, with military expansion as the backing, it will further realize its expansion toward Southeast Asia, we must say that Japan does attempt to build a new "Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere", the heart of which is to protect Japan's so-called economic benefits in Southeast Asia by military means. In the future, along with the further breakthrough made to, and even revision of, Japan's Constitution, the possibility of Japan's sending troops to Southeast Asia under the pretext of military conflict erupted in a certain Southeast Asian country or an incident of terrorism cannot be ruled out.

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Controlling Southeast Asia's Economic Security Lifelines

Controlling Southeast Asia's Military Security Lifelines

Protecting Economic Benefits by Military Means

What are they smoking?