Lian Dejing: The old dream of Japanese colonization, it is time to wake up

Source: Global Times

For some time now, the Japanese Government has made frequent moves on Taiwan-related issues. Not only has Taiwan-related content been written in the previous Japan-US summit and the joint statement of the Japan-EU summit, but also in the joint statement after the "2+2" talks held on June 9, the Taiwan Strait and other China-related issues were once again discussed. Japan's "concern" for Taiwan has a long history, and on the surface it seems to be a so-called concern for security, but in fact, deep down, it is a colonial complex that is at work.

Under a series of political and legal arrangements after World War II, Japan had to abandon its rule over Taiwan and promise taiwan to be part of China, but it still had a bad idea of Taiwan in its heart. For example, when Kishi was prime minister, he visited Taiwan and openly expressed his support for Chiang Kai-shek's counter-offensive on the mainland. Kishi Nobusuke was a well-known "pro-Taiwan faction" in the LDP, and his brother Eisaku Sato refused to recognize Taiwan as part of China until the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations, and was later "abandoned" by the mainstream of the LDP. It was only after Kakuei Tanaka came to power that the two countries normalized diplomatic relations.

However, Kishi's cronies have been severed from Taiwan within the LDP, undermining the one-China policy and undermining Sino-Japanese relations. In 1973, the "pro-Taiwan faction" cobbled together the so-called "Meeting of Deputies on Japan-China Relations." In 1997, the association was renamed the "Japan-China Parliamentarians' Earnest Talks" and became a super-party organization with more than 300 members. In 2007, Taro Aso, vice president of the association, as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party and Government, visited Taiwan to meet with Chen Shui-bian. In 2008, 11 members of Aso's cabinet were "pro-Taiwanists."

Now, Abe's younger brother, Nobuo Kishi, is a central figure in the LDP's "pro-Taiwan faction." After the establishment of Suga's cabinet, Kishi Nobuo became Minister of Defense, and Abe's other close confidant, Katsunobu Kato, became chief cabinet secretary, and the Suga cabinet was actually the "Abe-Suga Cabinet". Although Suga is not a "pro-Taiwan faction", he became prime minister with Abe's support and cannot escape the influence of Abe's line. The foreign policy of Suga's cabinet is difficult to go out of its own way. On the current issue of the Japanese Government's interference in China's internal affairs, in addition to the US factor, the influence of the "pro-Taiwan faction" in Japan cannot be ignored. In February this year, the "pro-Taiwan faction" set up a "Taiwan Policy Discussion Project Group" to plan Japan's future Taiwan policy.

Jointly speaking out with the United States and the European Union to interfere in China's internal affairs reflects Japan's participation and planning to "internationalize" the Taiwan issue, with Taiwan-related issues as a starting point for curbing China's rise. Japan's political elite does not want to see China unified. As early as 1969, the "Sato-Nixon" statement clearly mentioned that Taiwan's security issues were a matter of concern to Japan, and although Taiwan was not named again, expressions such as "peripheral issues" and "important impact on the state of affairs," the lifting of the right to collective self-defense, and the establishment of the security bill were all closely related to Taiwan. However, what awaits Japan in interfering in China's internal affairs and preventing China's reunification will not be unclear.

Japan not only colluded with Taiwan itself to damage Sino-Japanese relations, but also tried to establish a "Taiwan defense" united front with Europe and the United States, and the "Taiwan element" must also be written into the outline of the defense plan, and it seems that it wants to carry out the interference to the end. But Japan's national strength obviously cannot support such ambitions of the "pro-Taiwan faction." According to the latest statistics, Japan's GDP fell by 1.3% month-on-month in the first quarter of this year, equivalent to a 5.1% annualized decline, showing negative economic growth. Japan's lack of anti-epidemic efforts is now the fourth wave of the epidemic, but vaccines are still lacking, resulting in a dilemma in the hosting of the Olympic Games. At this point, whether it is done or not, it will suffer heavy losses.

With the severity of the epidemic, the economic downturn, the decline in national strength, and the intensification of the aging of the population, it is really not obvious that Japan has the strength to interfere in the internal affairs of neighboring countries. But the Japanese government now sees China's rise as a "threat" and seems to be able to build an "Indo-Pacific strategy," cobble together a "four-nation mechanism," and issue a few statements to block China's reunification and curb China's momentum of development. In fact, Japan should know that the EU's interests in the Asia-Pacific region are not in line with Japan's, and Japan's desire to pull Western countries to stand for Japan is probably wishful thinking.

The United States once regarded Taiwan as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier," while Japan still has a colonial complex toward Taiwan, so it is not surprising that Japan and the United States are in cahoots. The former powers are now in decline, but they still dream of reliving the old dreams of imperialism and colonialism and continuing to dominate the world.

However, today's world is no longer the world it once was. (The writer is Director and Professor, Center for Japanese Studies, Shanghai University of Chinese)