Commentary
A Chinese acquaintance asks me about Japan every now and then, particularly why it has been “beefing up” its military in recent years.
The other day, she asked me a few questions after reading an article about Japan potentially obtaining a “counter-strike” capability to hit enemy bases or missile launch sites that threaten Japan.
I offered my views and, as you’ll see, one person’s “beefing up” is another person’s sensible precaution.
Japan is traditionally a pacifist country, but it seems to be beefing up in recent years. My first question is: what do you think is the most prominent reason that drives Japan to be increasingly militarized?
Communist China routinely threatens Japan with destruction. Do you recall the recent Chinese threats to launch swarms of nuclear missiles at Japan if it provided any assistance to Taiwan? China’s missile arsenal is immense and growing bigger. When Beijing threatens to blanket Japan with nukes, it can do it. Japan really has no response to this.
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