Kissinger's ties to Japan are deep. When he was a student, Kissinger attended an international forum composed of students from the United States and Japan, and showed a strong interest in the development of the U.S.-Japan alliance and the security of the East Asian region. In addition, Kissinger played a number of roles in the establishment and development of U.S.-Japan relations, most notably around the return of Okinawa, which was still occupied by the United States after Japan's independence after the war.
1. The return of Okinawa
Generally speaking, since 1879, when the Japanese government changed the Ryukyus to Okinawa and established Okinawa Prefecture, the so-called "Ryukyu Disposal", Okinawa has officially become a Japanese territory. In 1945, the Pacific War came to an end, and the U.S. Army invaded Okinawa, and the first and final battle of the Japanese mainland began. The battle for the islands in Okinawa was extremely stalemate, lasting nearly three months, with many casualties on both sides, and the fighting was extremely tragic. The difficulty of the Battle of Okinawa strengthened the determination of the United States to use atomic bombs against the Japanese mainland to force the Japanese government to surrender. After Japan's defeat and surrender, the U.S. military directly occupied Okinawa. In 1951, after the war, the United States, Britain and other countries concluded the San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan, which stipulated that Japan had sovereignty over Okinawa, but the United States exercised executive power.
Okinawa is strategically located and occupies a key point in East Asia's maritime communications, and its military value is very prominent. The United States has built Okinawa into its largest military base in Asia, and Okinawa has also become the "Pacific cornerstone" of the United States in the Far East. However, the brutal administration of the United States in Okinawa and the "base-based" of Okinawa have caused resentment among the people of Okinawa to boil, and the voices of the Japanese people demanding the return of Okinawa to Okinawa have become increasingly strong. When the United States and Japan were negotiating over the "return of Okinawa," Kissinger was an important figure representing the United States. After learning of Kissinger's death, the Japanese government publicly stated that "Kissinger played an extremely important role in the return of Okinawa (administrative power) to Japan."
Figure 1: U.S. military Futenma Base in Okinawa in Japan
II. The U.S.-Japan Nuclear Secret Treaty
In addition to the issue of Okinawa's administrative power, Kissinger and Kei Wakaizumi, the secret envoy representing Japan, had held talks on the issue of nuclear weapons in advance, and after some bargaining, they prepared a draft secret treaty on US nuclear weapons. In November 1969, then Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato visited the United States and held talks with U.S. President Richard Nixon, and the two leaders secretly signed and exchanged the "nuclear secret treaty" that had been reached in advance. The "Nuclear Secret Treaty" stipulates that in the event of an emergency, Japan will allow the United States to import nuclear weapons into and transfer nuclear weapons to and from Okinawa. The reason why it is called a "nuclear secret treaty" is that as early as December 1967, in a speech to the Diet, Eisaku Sato formally put forward Japan's basic policy on nuclear weapons -- the three non-nuclear principles, that is, not to manufacture, not to possess, and not to import nuclear weapons. Sato even won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 for proposing the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, becoming the only Japanese prime minister to have won the prize so far. Therefore, this "nuclear secret treaty" has been kept secret from the outside world as top secret. In 1972, after the conclusion of the Nuclear Secret Treaty, the administrative power of Okinawa was officially returned to Japan.
Figure 2: Eisaku Sato and Nixon
But paper can't contain fire after all. In November 2009, the newly inaugurated Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government set up a third-party committee of experts to verify the long-standing "one-party priority" of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), with Shinichi Kitaoka, a professor at the University of Tokyo, chairing the committee. In March 2010, the commission submitted an investigation report to the foreign minister confirming the existence of three secret agreements between Japan and the United States, including the "Secret Treaty on the Docking of U.S. Nuclear Ships and Passing Through Japanese Ports."
There are different views in academic circles on whether the "nuclear secret treaty" is a necessary condition for the establishment of the return of Okinawa. Some people believe that the United States must deploy nuclear weapons in Japan out of the needs of the Cold War struggle against the Soviet Union, and Okinawa is the best choice, so it must use nuclear weapons as a threat, otherwise Okinawa will not be returned to Japan. It was also argued that the Japanese government, which feared that China would retaliate by using nuclear weapons, welcomed the United States to provide a nuclear umbrella given that China already possessed atomic and hydrogen bombs at that time, but at that time, civil opposition to nuclear weapons was the mainstream and it had no choice but to do so.
Masaaki Ibe, professor emeritus at the University of the Ryukyus, said, "The secret treaty is not a prerequisite for the return of Okinawa. Kissinger, who was involved in the U.S. negotiations, emphasized the importance of military power for regional stability and the avoidance of war (World War III), and he believed that even after the return of administrative power to Okinawa to Japan, it was necessary to ensure that the U.S. military could freely use bases in Okinawa. He does not care whether the existence of the US military base will affect the lives of the people of Okinawa and whether it will bring sacrifices to Japan." On the issue of Japan's nuclear weapons, Kissinger's consistent stance is that if all US troops are withdrawn from their bases in Japan, there is a high probability that Japan will possess nuclear weapons. Therefore, even in order to eliminate the possibility of a resurgence of Japanese militarism, the United States will certainly not give up its right to base in Japan and to ship nuclear weapons into Japan.
3. Fumio Kishida's "nuclear-free world" and Kissinger
After retiring from politics, Kissinger also visited Japan many times, including attending meetings of the Japan-US-Europe Commission, a policy advisory body composed of non-governmental figures from Japan, the United States, and European countries, to make suggestions on Japan's status and role in the international community. Kissinger also offered help to Japan to help with diplomatic problems. Kissinger's most recent visit to Japan was in October 2022 last year, where he held talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and exchanged views on Japan-US relations, China-Japan relations, and more.
In his later years, Kissinger strongly advocated the abolition of nuclear weapons around the world, which resonated with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, because one of his political ideas was to achieve a "world free of nuclear weapons." After learning of Kissinger's death, Fumio Kishida immediately expressed his condolences to his wife Nancy. Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered an atomic bombing in the war, and Fumio Kishida's hometown is in Hiroshima, one of the two cities bombed by the United States that year. Fumio Kishida spoke at the Hiroshima Atomic Bombing Day event held on August 6 this year. He began by paying tribute to the victims, highlighting the tragedy of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima 78 years ago, stressing that the catastrophe caused by nuclear weapons must never be repeated, and then reiterating that Japan will continue to adhere to the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" and strive to realize a "nuclear-free world." Of course, he did not say a word about the United States, which dropped atomic bombs on Japan, but used the topic to play on the topic, saying that the world is facing "the nuclear threat brought by Russia" in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Figure 3: Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Remembrance Day
In addition, when Kissinger made a secret visit to China, the United States took the initiative to approach China and end its "blockade" policy against China, and did not greet Japan, its "ally" at the time, in advance, and the United States only informed the Japanese side 30 minutes before publicly announcing the news of Nixon's upcoming visit to China. This "hurt" Japan, which has always regarded diplomacy with the United States as the "basic axis of diplomacy," and Japanese public opinion at that time even called the United States "treacherous." The "Nixon shock" directly led to the collapse of the cabinet as Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, a staunch pro-American and anti-China politician at the time. This was seen as a lesson in Japanese diplomacy, and then Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka decided to normalize diplomatic relations with China before the United States did.
Without the consent of the United States, Kissinger was strongly worried and dissatisfied with Kissinger's move to change its China policy in a drastic manner without the consent of the United States. Kissinger made a special trip to Japan before the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan to hold talks with then Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and listen to Japan's concrete plan for resuming diplomatic relations with China. After reaching a preliminary consensus, Kakuei Tanaka personally flew to Hawaii for a summit meeting with President Nixon.
It can be seen from this that even in the face of the "over-the-top diplomacy" of the United States in its policy toward China, Japan can still restore diplomatic relations with China only after obtaining the approval of the United States. From this point of view, the realization of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan also has Kissinger's part.
epilogue
As a "giant in international politics," Kissinger has led the foreign policy of the United States for nearly half a century and has made great contributions to safeguarding US national interests. In response to the accusation of "despising the Allied Japan", Kissinger later made a very interesting response in his memoirs. "It is customary for Japan not to keep secrets," he said. So that's it. Prime Minister Eisaku Sato is a trusted friend of the United States, and I have no intention of embarrassing those who are committed to the friendship between the United States and Japan. It would be polite to notify the Japanese side a few hours before the announcement of the news." Kissinger's remarks reflect his spiritual world as a realist who staunchly defends the national interests of the United States, and it is no wonder that he has been evaluated by the Japanese media as a "diplomatic giant" and at the same time that he is a "cold and thorough international politics" and a "ninja diplomacy." Realism has always been the main theoretical basis for US foreign policymaking. In order to maintain global hegemony, maintain the status of the sole superpower, and realize its own national interests, it is not strange and difficult for the United States to sacrifice its alliance and the interests of its allies.
Zhang Guangxin is a distinguished associate professor at the Institute of East Asian Studies, Zhejiang Gongshang University