US-Japan Relations

How good are US-Japan relations? Very good — in fact, the best they’ve been in a hundred years. But when Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi told a South Korean delegation in private talks two weeks ago that Japan cannot share US intelligence with South Korea because Washington does not fully trust Seoul, he was displaying a confidence that the current government has about its relations with the US that may not be justified, so says an editorial in Japan’s center-right Yomiuri:

The remark was careless not only because it played into South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun’s self-fulfilling prophecy of a “diplomatic war” with Japan. It was also careless because it revealed an overconfidence in some circles of Japanese officialdom regarding their close partnership with the United States. However pervasive this sentiment is, it is foolish to assume that the good times in Japan-U.S. alliance relations will last forever or can be flaunted in front of other allies. It may only be a matter of time when Japan is no longer the apple of Washington’s eye.

The article also takes an appropriately sanguine view of Japan’s deployment to Iraq. Statements by some Tokyo politicians and policymakers imply that many believe Washington “owes” Japan for its deployment of less than one thousand self-defense force members to Iraq. In truth, Japan’s contributions have led to expectations in Washington that Japan is going to be the US deputy in Northeast Asia. Is Japan ready to take on the role of a serious security partner? The US is going to expect much more proactive involvement from Japan in the near future — what if Tokyo cannot perform? It’s an expectations game with both sides set up for mutual misunderstanding.

The complete editorial also covers the UN, military redeployment in Japan, and differing expectations across the Pacific it. It’s a must-read for all East Asian security buffs.

In other news, President Roh of South Korea has recently talked of his country being the regional “balancer” in Northeast Asia between China, Japan, and the United States. No one takes this as a serious alternative to the current paradigm, and conservative critics in ROK have accused Roh of sacrificing the US relationship for better relations with China. But the Japanese press is widely reporting Roh’s comments yesterday that Roh doesn’t really take the whole balancer strategy seriously either — Roh publicly said that the balancer strategy was aimed at stopping a remilitarized Japan. Does he mean it? Or is he just trying to backtrack on his comments so as to not upset the US? Or is he punishing Japan for not rebuking Yachi’s recent comments on the US not trusting South Korea? Or is this the most recent salvo in diplomatic war? Where is Marmot with his analysis of the situation!