After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Japan closely followed in the footsteps of the United States and other Western countries and launched several rounds of sanctions against Russia.
Just a few days ago, the Russian side also launched a "counterattack" against Japan, and 63 Japanese citizens, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Lin Fangzheng, were included in the "blacklist" of entering Russia.
Just when people are lamenting Japan's "righteousness" to the United States and the West, a detail exposes Japan's dilemma.
Biden tweeted a screenshot announcing that the G7 would deepen Putin's pain
Recently, Ukrainian President Zelens finally came to a conference call with the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7). After the meeting, the Biden administration could not hold back, and the White House immediately issued a joint statement, saying that the entire G7 promised to "ban or gradually stop the import of Russian oil."
The Biden administration has been trying to cut off Russia's economic "arteries," and starting with energy is the most straightforward way. At the same time, for the United States, it can fill the gap in Russia's energy withdrawal from the European market and make a profit with the trend.
Many European countries are really dumb to eat yellow lian, and Japan, which is equally uncomfortable, has begun to play tai chi.
Shortly after the joint statement, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida came forward to say that the G7 commitment is a "very difficult decision" for Japan, that Japan needs some time to implement gradually, and that a specific timetable for reducing imports is still under discussion.
Objectively speaking, Japan is indeed a country that relies heavily on energy imports, but Japan should anticipate its own predicament when it follows the european and American sanctions against Russia.
Of course, the United States will not pay much attention to whether Japan is suffering or not, and Biden also tweeted that the relevant actions will "deepen Putin's pain."
However, it is not certain whether the United States can make Russia miserable.
As early as mid-April, Putin convened a domestic energy conference to discuss plans to deal with Western sanctions and plans for the long-term development of Russia's energy sector.
Putin is very aware of the mind of the United States, and it does not matter if European countries do not buy Russian energy, then Russia will make more efforts in exports.
Putin said that in the next few years, Russia will shift the direction of oil and gas exports from the West to the fast-growing southern and eastern markets.
If specifically demarcated, it is clear that in the future Russia will shift the focus of energy exports to Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.
Next, Russia will also speed up the infrastructure (including railways, pipelines and ports) of oil and gas exports. Putin has ordered the government to submit a draft long-term plan for expanding energy transport infrastructure by June 1 this year, which appears to be ready to be done.
Look at russia has found a "second plan", but some European countries are still scratching their heads, because they can not get rid of the dependence on Russian oil in a short period of time, some countries have promised to "gradually stop imports", as to whether the pace is fast or slow, or simply stagnant it is difficult to say.
Japan, on the other hand, appeared to be underwhelmed, and in the later stage, it was indispensable to push and shove with the United States. In short, if you are too "doing", the result should be borne by yourself.
It's not just the energy problem that makes Japan miserable, but also the population problem, and even Musk has begun to watch.
On May 8, Musk, who recently bought Twitter strongly, tweeted that if the demographic decline continues, Japan will die.
Musk's remarks sparked a heated discussion among netizens, and some people began to support it, saying that "Japan can accept immigrants to offset the impact of population decline, so that it can continue to exist." "There are also many Japanese netizens who take the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with Japanese society and the government.
In fact, the problem of population decline is not only a concern for Japan, many countries will face such a dilemma, but from the data level, Japan's situation is indeed not good.
As of October 1, 2021, Japan's total population was 125.502 million, a decrease of 644,000 compared to the same period in 2020, which is the 11th consecutive year of population decline in Japan, but this time it is really "record".
Japan's population data has fallen by a record low, and then the problems of labor shortages and population aging will become more serious.
At present, senior Japanese officials have visited Fiji and Palau one after another, and they are still "worried about China's influence", and Japan, which is always accustomed to avoiding the essence of the problem, is likely to not end well.