Japan creates ominous council

After the end of the Cold War, Japanese elites in the political, military and academic fields started thinking about the country's future security strategy. Following conservative think tanks' understanding of the world and the situation in Asia, they began seeing China as a "threat" or a "potential threat". When it comes to deepening exchanges between China and Japan, some Japanese still advocate a containment policy toward China. The reason is nothing but the baseless fear of China's rise and discomfort with the changing balance of power between China and Japan. The economic dividends that Japan has reaped because of China's economic reform and opening-up do not matter to them.

Abe wants to use a "new wave of nationalism" to boost Japanese people's morale, but his wrong reading of history has shamed the Japanese nation in front of the international community. Also, despite being a "nationalist", Abe will find it very difficult to establish a more equal Japan-US partnership given the nature of the Japan-US alliance.

The NSC will enable an institutional guarantee for Japan to work out a comprehensive national security strategy. But the criterion to evaluate the council's effectiveness is whether it can make rational security and diplomatic decisions, which can really enhance Japan's national interests. Japan's current diplomacy toward neighboring countries, which could stir up trouble in East Asia, is akin to seeking its own destruction. Until Japan gets rid of its status as a US "client state", its attempts to become a "normal country" will prove futile.

The creation of the NSC and the National Security Bureau as part of the cabinet secretariat will result in major changes in Japan's policy-making mechanism on foreign and security issues with a division between policy formulation and information processing. All kinds of information will be provided to the NSC to empower the prime minister and the other three cabinet officials to make all the vital decisions. And as a powerful think tank, the NSC will play a commanding, and devastating role in Japan's decision-making process and future strategic model.

The author is a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(China Daily 12/09/2013 page9)