Japan's secret foreign policy

Posted By Joshua Keating Monday, October 18, 2010 - 12:39 PM Share

As anti-Japanese protests flare across China, the Japanese media is reporting that the government may have unwittingly violated a secret pact with China over the disputed Senkaku islands, leading to the current round of tension:

Aera magazine reported that under Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled for half a century until last year, Tokyo and Beijing had made "secret promises" to each other over the territorial issue.

"Under the secret promises, Japan was in principle to prevent landings (of Chinese nationals) on the islets and not to detain them unless it develops into a case of grave concerns," the magazine said, citing unnamed government sources.

"The Chinese side promised to block (anti-Japanese) protesters' boats from sailing off to reach the islands," the weekly added.

In an illustrative case, Japan in 2004 immediately deported seven Chinese activists who had landed on one of the rocky islands, Aera said.

When power changed in Japan last summer, the earlier promises may not have been mentioned to the new centre-left Democratic Party of Japan government, an unnamed government source was quoted as saying by Aera.

If true, this would be the second revelation this year about a secret foreign policy pact made by the LDP government. In March, it came out that under an undisclosed passage of a 1960 treaty with the United States, Japan had been allowing nuclear-armed U.S. vessels to use its ports in violation of longstanding anti-nuclear principles.

Obviously, secret agreements between countries are hardly unheard of. But it's certainly starting to seem like the LDP had been trying to avoid public outcry on some of Japan's most contentious foreign-policy issues and that after decades of unquestioned rule, didn't anticipate having to let the opposition in on the secret.

JASON LEE/AFP/Getty Images

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MARTY MARTEL

1:24 PM ET

October 18, 2010

Japan needs its own foreign policy and defense against China

Sooner or later Japan has to realize that either it has to establish its own foreign policy and defense forces or it can ‘Finlandize’ and become neutral between US and China.

Witness how US urged Japan and China to settle the sea boat incident peacefully. US did NOT support Japan’s claim on those islands even though US had returned those islands to Japan in 1972 and even though Japan has owned those islands since 1892 before which NO country had claimed ownership of those islands.

US is NOT going to take sides between disputing nations about the maritime as Defense Secretary Gates declared recently at Hanoi conference. Hence US will obviously preach the disputing nations to settle their claims peacefully as it did to Japan and China recently over the capture of a Chinese captain for hitting Japanese boats in disputed area.

There in lies the rub.

What happens if two disputing countries claim the same area and can not settle their claim? Since China was all riled up about Japanese action in disputed area, they could easily have gone to war over the same if Japan had not backed down. Poor Japanese government took lot of flak on domestic front for backing down against Chinese bullying.

US has neutered Japan after WWII.

Being an ally of Japan, would US assist Japan in case of a war with China? Since Japan is relying on US nuclear umbrella, would US go to the extent of using nuclear weapons against China if China uses them against Japan?

Japan would have to back down under US pressure if US does not want to go to war with China over the issue.

So if Japan wants to have independent course of action available to itself in case of such US pressure to back down, Japan has to develop its own nuclear weapon arsenal.

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AMPONTAN

6:20 AM ET

October 19, 2010

Aera article

Sorry, but it seems as if you're in over your head on this issue.

http://ampontan.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/letter-bombs-12-theyre-just-filled-with-secrets/

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DAVIDSANDERSON

7:24 AM ET

October 19, 2010

I agree. Japan has relied too

I agree. Japan has relied too heavily on other nations since World War 2. I think it's time we let them build their own forces up. Not sure China would be too happy though.

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