Is US Dragging Japan Into Conflict With Russia and China?

Is US Dragging Japan Into Conflict With Russia and China?

Sputnik

"Since coming to power, the Biden administration has been pursuing a very intensive policy of mobilizing and closing ranks with its European allies and allies in Asia," Igor Istomin, lead research fellow at the Center for Advanced American Studies, MGIMO University, told Sputnik. "And in this regard, they are actively trying to engage Asian allies in the strategy of putting pressure on Russia and supporting the transfer of weapons to Ukraine. Therefore, the fact that Japan is involved in this activity is not surprising."

Earlier this week, Reuters cited unnamed sources, as saying that, despite Japan's pacifist Constitution, "there is a way for the United States to buy explosives from Japan." The explosive in question is TNT, or trinitrotoluene, which is used in military shells, bombs, and grenades, as well as in industrial uses and underwater blasting. Reportedly, the explosive obtained from Japan is meant to be sent to US army-owned munitions plants that would pack them into 155mm shell cases.

Japan's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Economy and Defense Ministry's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency declined to comment on the matter.

Still, Istomin believes that the trend is clear. He particularly referred to South Korea's growing involvement in US adventurism. Earlier, purported Pentagon files disclosed that South Korea finds itself between a rock and a hard place after agreeing to sell artillery shells to help the United States replenish its stockpiles. The problem was that Seoul was worried that Washington would divert munitions to the Kiev regime.

Indeed, over the last decade, Japan has been gradually revising its pacifist strategy. In December 2022, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government approved three policy documents – the National Security Strategy (NSS), the National Defense Strategy and the Defense Buildup Program – which envisaged doubling the nation's defense expenditures within the next five years. 

Furthermore, Japan has bolstered its rapprochement with NATO, with Kishida becoming the first Japanese leader to attend a NATO summit in June 2022. On May 10, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi stated that Tokyo is in talks to open a NATO liaison office which would be the first of its kind in Asia.

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