Sunday, December 19, 2010

Japan, from passive pacifism to proactive pacifism!



The equivocal nature of the Japanese
discourse on nuclear armament


2 stories today.

I liked the report published today in the NZ Herald:

Theme: Highlighting Japan-US alliance, Japanese
scholar implies contrast with New Zealand-US
relationship.

Of course the new guidelines of Japan cabinet and MOD
are back on track of the fundamentals of the military
alliance. The Hatoyama venture is gone although he
denied yesterday in Hokkaido he's out of politics. So
is it a jolly good time for the "industry"? Well, not
really. Fortunately, the Kiwis say.

Quoted in 2005 of whom you really know so well
already:

"At a seminar in Wellington, a respected Japanese
scholar extolled the strength and benefits of the
Japanese-U.S. alliance -- a strength that exists
despite Japan's steadfast anti-nuclear and anti-war
policies. Implicit in her speech was a contrast
with New Zealand, whose vociferously stated
anti-nuclear policy has constrained its
relationship with the United States for nearly two
decades. The Japanese Embassy sponsored the seminar
at post's suggestion. It is an example of the
indirect means the U.S. mission in New Zealand has
had to employ to get our message across here.

2. (U) The scholar spent much of her speech at the
seminar March 22 describing the Japanese-U.S.
alliance, although the seminar was billed as
covering Japanese-New Zealand relations. The
scholar -- Akiko Fukushima, director of policy
studies at the National Institute for Research
Advancement in Tokyo -- said the alliance was based
not just on the two countries' defense needs, but
also on "common good." She cited as an example the
joint statement released February 19 after the
"two-plus-two" Japan-U.S. talks in Washington,
which called for the peaceful resolution of issues
concerning the Taiwan Straits.

3. (C) Hidehiko Hamada, the Japanese Embassy's DCM,
told post's DCM that he had counseled Fukushima on
how she should describe the Japanese-U.S.
relationship for a New Zealand audience. About 60
people attended the seminar.

4. (U) Fukushima told the audience that she first
visited New Zealand in 1997 to study its
anti-nuclear policy. She concluded that, because of
Japan's different security environment, it could
not emulate New Zealand. However, she said, Japan
could not become a nuclear power because it would
spark an arms race in the region and be strongly
opposed by the Japanese public, which harbors
lasting memories of the World War II bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fukushima noted the strong
links between Japan and the United States,
especially their shared concern about China. Except
for a disagreement over Japan's restrictions on
U.S. beef because of BSE, she said the alliance was
in the "best shape" it has been in years. At the
same time, she said, Japan needed to formulate its
own vision for the alliance's future.

5. (U) Fukushima said the move to revise the
Japanese Constitution's Article 9 -- the so-called
no-war clause -- should not be seen as imposed from
outside but as a shift from passive pacifism to
proactive pacifism, or "keeping peace by doing
something." Fukushima's institute is an independent
think tank funded by both the public and private
sectors.

6. (C) Comment: We have encouraged Japanese DCM
Hamada to sponsor this type of program as a way to
highlight to New Zealanders the fact that Japan
recognizes the benefits of the U.S. military and
non-military roles in the Pacific and has worked to
facilitate our presence by making Japan's defense
policies more flexible. Post hopes that such
communications by our allies will remind the New
Zealand government and public that their country's
anti-nuclear policy negatively affects U.S.
interests in Asia and is detrimental to the New
Zealand-U.S. relationship." Unquote.

Military barracks memories...


The second story is about Stars and Stripes.

The second thing quite amazing is the poor
situation of our colleagues of press embedded in
the Stars and Stripes. Probably a Patriot
journalism, quote:

" Washington - The Pentagon has advised
journalists associated with its daily, Stars and
Stripes, not to access “classified or sensitive
information” readily available on personal or
public computers lest they be reported to “security
personnel.”

Stars and Stripes ombudsman Mark Prendergast
reported on Friday that Defense Media Activity, a
Pentagon-backed entity recently advised:

“Access to any classified information hosted on
non-DoD systems from any government-owned system is
expressly prohibited. Additionally, all DMA
personnel are reminded that access to classified or
sensitive information from any personally owned or
publicly available computers also constitutes
unauthorized access and is reportable to security
personnel.”

The move in essence bans Stars and Stripes
journalists from reading any of the diplomatic
cables recently published by Wikileaks. Prendergast
wrote on Friday: “The editorial independence of
Stars and Stripes and its readers’ right to news
free of censorship are being threatened by an
overly broad and misdirected response to the
Wikileaks debacle.” "

McCarthy is to be resurrected? No, kidding.

Sources: NZHerald & Digital Time, S & S.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous12:01 AM

    Is Japan attitude towards nuclear bombs hypocrisy?

    Bombed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan does not officially research on the bomb or does not own one, but relies on its allies to enjoy the benefit of a "nuclear umbrella." How convenient.

    ReplyDelete

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