Missile Makes Japan Twitch New Muscle -- Yong Kwon, Asia Times
Japan has been one of the most active players in the North Korean "satellite" crisis. As a country well within the range of Pyongyang's ballistic missiles, Tokyo has good reason to be concerned, but the implications of its assertiveness in the past month are interesting in their own right.
When South Korea said on March 26 that it would intercept Pyongyang's Unha-3 rocket if the satellite's trajectory appears errant, the warning came three days after Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka's announcement that Tokyo was readying Aegis-class warships and PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles in preparation for North Korea's rocket launch. That was quite a move for a country that constitutionally renounces the use of force as means of settling international disputes.
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My Comment: The Japanese have a long history of being nationalistic and independent. With U.S. influence and power waning in the region, it is easy for me to predict that Japan will quickly rush in to fill this void. A military buildup will be the result, and Asia's fears of Japanese assertiveness and intervention will be revived.
1 comment:
In future, who will China's neighbors fear more? Thuggish China or a re-armed Japan?
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