[Fasces]

The KMT is likely to win in 2024, and the DPP just got punished by voters. Macron's visit to China and the EU trade proposal are also things.

Japan is a US puppet and this move is meaningless before the office is actually open - until then it's just the US leaning on Japan to make a statement. The previous government you're praising, Abe, unequivocally stated Japan would not participate in a military defense of Taiwan.

Even the current foreign minister seems more focused on Russia in his statements, which Japan shares a border with, than China, and seems to want to stop this sort of speculation before it begins.

You present Europe, Taiwan, and Asia to be more anti-Chinese than it really is, and for battle lines to be more solid than they are.

No one outside the US security establishment sees a China-West Cold War as desirable or an inevitability. People want to live their lives, maybe visit Mars and solve the issue of climate change.

[Rugoz]

I don't know what Europe's blue water navies can contribute to the defense of East Asia, compared to the US. Probably very little.

Japan is a US puppet and this move is meaningless before the office is actually open - until then it's just the US leaning on Japan to make a statement. The previous government you're praising, Abe, unequivocally stated Japan would not participate in a military defense of Taiwan.

Doublethink at its best.

[Fasces]

Both can be true. Japan is willing to serve as a logistical hub for US power projection in the Pacific and willing to expand its Defense Force at their request - but not sign a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan; hoping to maintain some level of strategic ambiguity that would prevent a Chinese attack on Okinawa rather than outright guaranteeing one.

[Rugoz]

Both can be true.

No, they cannot. A puppet is a puppet.

In reality the US doesn't have to turn its allies into puppets in order for the alliances to profitable (for both sides).

Great video on the topic:

[Fasces]

A puppet is a puppet.

Not all puppets are the same. In any case, I'm not going to get into a pedantic debate about it. Substitute for 'junior partner' or 'minimal independent foreign policy' if it gets your panties unbunched.

[Rugoz]

Not all puppets are the same. In any case, I'm not going to get into a pedantic debate about it. Substitute for 'junior partner' or 'minimal independent foreign policy' if it gets your panties unbunched.

A puppet, in everybody's mind, has no agency.

Don't pretend you didn't pick the word for a reason.

[Fasces]

Japan is a state with limited capacity to pursue a foreign or domestic policy independent of US interests. Vassal. Tributary. Junior. Puppet. Protectorate. Satrapy. Proxy. Pawn. Take your pick for which term you find less objectionable, Rugoz.

in everybody's mind

I wish English words worked that way.

[Unthinking Majority]

No one outside the US security establishment sees a China-West Cold War as desirable or an inevitability. People want to live their lives, maybe visit Mars and solve the issue of climate change.

Seems like its already started, its just a matter of if it will continue and increase or decrease. Expanding NATO is not exactly the best way to lower tensions. Neither is Chinese actions regarding Hong Kong or sabre rattling re: Taiwan. Everyone's effed.

[JohnRawls]

Japan is a state with limited capacity to pursue a foreign or domestic policy independent of US interests. Vassal. Tributary. Junior. Puppet. Protectorate. Satrapy. Proxy. Pawn. Take your pick for which term you find less objectionable, Rugoz.



I wish English words worked that way.

What? Are you seriously saying that Japan has no independence to pursue domestic policy? That is a stupid proposition. May be if it was 1945 then you would be right but it is not. The only example to your argument is perhaps the 1980s plaza accords but then again, it was a multinational deal between Europe, US and Japan at the time which all sides considered a win-win from which Japan and Europe profited greatly by being able to buyout a buttload of American companies, property and so on while America got a bit more competitiveness in the private sector.

As for foreign policy, your CCP warmongering is showing. A country doesn't need to be aggressively expanding and threatening its neibhours to be a powerhouse or provide very good quality of life to its citizens. Japan could have removed the defensive clauses for the military in its constitution long ago but it didn't for the very simple reason that it costs money and a lot of it which Japan has spent elsewhere. Actually an aggressive foreign policy is not the norm in liberal democracies if you look at all liberal democracies as a whole.

[Rich]

No one outside the US security establishment sees a China-West Cold War as desirable or an inevitability. People want to live their lives, maybe visit Mars and solve the issue of climate change.

Um last time I checked, I don't think I was inside the US security establishment. As far as I'm concerned the conflict with the Chinese leadership is a Buddhist holy war. I don't want to go to Mars, and containing China is an essential element of good environmental policy.

[JohnRawls]

I don't know what Europe's blue water navies can contribute to the defense of East Asia, compared to the US. Probably very little.



Doublethink at its best.

Size and numbers. US BLUE water navy is definetely larger and more capable but it doesn't mean that adding like 33% - 40% more navy for blue water purposes and a very significant patrol capabilities is bad. Europe has far larger green water navy than America. Arguably Europe has way better patrol and inspection capabilities to run a blockade for example since we have way more submarines, frigates and destroyers. And by way more, i mean by significant numbers 2x,3x,4x more etc. Smaller ships have a lot of tasks they can fullfil in a blockade or raiding purposes. US leads in large and modern ship construction like top of the line cruisers, supercarriers and fat destroyers. European submarine fleet is also VERY significant and larger although not all are nuclear powered. Shouldn't be a problem in Asia since they can be based of island or from Japan if needed.

[litwin]

Japan is taking a dangerous path towards becoming a military power under the new prime minister. Kishida would raise the nation's defense spending from 1% to 2% of GDP by 2027, the world’s third largest defense budget. The opening of a NATO liaison office in Tokyo suits his militarist agenda. Just as Ukraine is Asia’s problem, Taiwan is Europe’s problem, according to Kishida. NATO would end up defending Taiwan from Chinese aggression in the long run.

edit for you : Democratic Japan plays and important role in world politic and becoming a military SUPER - power you´ll hate so what ?

[Rich]

Japan was the home of the Buddhist Reformation, where the great task of cleansing Buddhism of its twin sicknesses of celibacy and pacifism was began (that's not completely correct, Tibet for example, but it'll do as a first approximation). Buddhism, remember, began as the religion of the Indian warrior caste.

However when I look at the "Rape of Nanking", I have to be honest and say that the Japanese were taking militarism too far. National and racial pride are good, but I would argue if we look at Nanking, we see that the Japanese had become over identified with their national and racial consciousness. Japanese character development had actually become unbalanced and the Japanese perhaps needed to work on the development of such qualities as compassion, forgiveness and openness to other cultures. I would argue the German Nazis, although not quite as bad as the Japanese suffered from similar issues. I don't mean to be insulting or offensive to Japanese people, but when I look at the Rape of Nanking, they actually strike me as the mirror image of today's, New York Times or the British Guardian newspaper. Neither extreme is healthy.

I hope the Japanese can find their way back to a more robust and healthy Middle Way when it comes to militarism.

[Rugoz]

Japan is a state with limited capacity to pursue a foreign or domestic policy independent of US interests. Vassal. Tributary. Junior. Puppet. Protectorate. Satrapy. Proxy. Pawn. Take your pick for which term you find less objectionable, Rugoz.

Most of these words have a specific meaning in history. Labeling Japan as a puppet state is about as accurate as calling China a democracy. I.e. it's total nonsense. But of course you're just regurgitating CCP claptrap.

The whole point of these labels is to suggest that Japan is in this relationship unwillingly. Just as Russia suggests that Eastern European countries are being forced to be part of NATO, when in fact those countries actively pursued NATO membership, for good reason. Basically, it's Chinese and Russian propaganda garbage aimed at undermining these alliances.

[Rugoz]

Size and numbers. US BLUE water navy is definetely larger and more capable but it doesn't mean that adding like 33% - 40% more navy for blue water purposes and a very significant patrol capabilities is bad. Europe has far larger green water navy than America. Arguably Europe has way better patrol and inspection capabilities to run a blockade for example since we have way more submarines, frigates and destroyers. And by way more, i mean by significant numbers 2x,3x,4x more etc. Smaller ships have a lot of tasks they can fullfil in a blockade or raiding purposes. US leads in large and modern ship construction like top of the line cruisers, supercarriers and fat destroyers. European submarine fleet is also VERY significant and larger although not all are nuclear powered. Shouldn't be a problem in Asia since they can be based of island or from Japan if needed.

How are European countries supposed to operate their mostly green water navies around Taiwan? They would be wholly dependent on US logistics, which probably is the actual bottleneck, not the number of ships.

[skinster]

That could be the case if Taiwan wanted to unify and join China but they don't since they don't like dictatorships and the CCP in particular. Hong Kong made the re-unification impossible under the CCP.

The US, UN and others recognise the One China policy which considers Taiwan as being within Chinese territory. Stop meddling, war pigs.

Japan is a state with limited capacity to pursue a foreign or domestic policy independent of US interests. Vassal. Tributary. Junior. Puppet. Protectorate. Satrapy. Proxy. Pawn. Take your pick for which term you find less objectionable, Rugoz.

But those 8 US bases and 50,000 soldiers are there to protect Japan!!

[Pants-of-dog]

It seems that people are unaware of Japan’s peculiar military position.

Because of WWII, Japan was not allowed to have a military at all, and was only allowed to have a defensive military after the Korean War. It currently has a mutual defence treaty with the USA, basically making it a vassal of the USA when it comes to military operations.

[Rugoz]

It currently has a mutual defence treaty with the USA, basically making it a vassal of the USA when it comes to military operations.

Look up the word "vassal", you twit.

Also, watch the video.

[Pants-of-dog]

No, I do not watch videos. Does the video add anything to what I said? If so, what?

Also, please do not be rude.

[wat0n]

Well, if Japan got rid of article 9 I am guessing the US presence there would be kind of redundant. I do think it will eventually happen, even if the US ultimately is allowed to stay.