JAPAN-UNITED STATES: Post-War Pact Extended For Security’s Sake

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Apr 17 1996 (IPS) - More than just a reaffirmation of the Tokyo- Washington alliance, Wednesday’s renewal of a security pact between the United States and Japan reflects persistent concerns of perceived military threats posed by China and North Korea.

Analysts say that U.S. President Bill Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, have for the moment at least, opted to put bilateral trade differences aside in order to show unity for the sake of East Asian security.

The recent tension in the Taiwan Straits “has inevitably affected the United States and China’s Asian neighbours, including Japan”, said the ‘Asahi Shinbun’ Japanese daily in an editorial ahead of Wednesday’s security pact signing in Tokyo.

The paper said that as the “cornerstone to East Asian regional security in the post- Cold War era”, the Japan-United States military alliance had to stay even if it needed “redefinition”.

As far as “redefinition” goes, domestic considerations have forced the two leaders to make practical adjustments to a treaty which Clinton says is designed to ensure East Asian security into the 21st century.

The United States has announced a partial redeployment of troops from its main base in Okinawa, Japan’s most southern island, where local residents have since the rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl last September by three U.S. soldiers, have grown increasingly vociferous against the continued U.S. presence.

Washington says it will hand back 20 per cent of its holdings in Okinawa that would see the return of an airbase, two communication centres, a port and other military properties.

This decision had been announced at the weekend before Clinton’s three day visit to the region including a stop-over in South Korea on Tuesday, and prompted speculation that Washington might be rethinking its security arrangements in the region.

But while the security arrangements confirmed that the United States would retain its 47,000 troops in Japan, the extended commitment has raised other concerns in Tokyo which analysts say has assumed a greater role in ensuring regional security.

Apart from a hefty 623 billion yen (about 620 million dollars) financial contribution — 70 per cent of the costs of maintaining the troop presence — the new declaration calls on Tokyo to provide support such as food, equipment, jet-fuel and machinery to the Japanese-based U.S. army.

In this presidential election year, Clinton needed Hashimoto to make these guarantees to stave off domestic opposition against American tax-payers having to pay for the military protection the United States offers to a rich nation such as Japan.

At the same time, Okinawan placard carrying demonstrators, with the support of the national Press, have been asking why Japan should foot 70 per cent of the bill of maintaining U.S. troops on Japanese soil, considering the events that transpired there of last September.

Defence budgets aside, Japanese analysts question whether Japan is over-stepping the boundaries of its post-war pacifist constitution which forbids its participation in a war.

In Tokyo Wednesday, Clinton said that with the United States and Japan having the world’s “strongest democracies and economies”, they should jointly shoulder the responsibility of maintaining stability in East Asia.

Comments such as these coupled with the wording of the security pact on assistance Japan is to give to U.S. troops on the ground, will not go down well with the Japanese public, say analysts.

“Many people accepted the U.S. bases because it protected Japan from an outside attack. But when it comes to Japan’s being called to protect the rest of Asia, then its a different matter,” explained Naoki Usui, a Japanese writer on defence issue.

Osamu Yatabe, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee who broke away from the ruling coalition, the Social Democratic Party last year, says that Japan should not have entered into such an arrangement with “public deliberation”.

Yatabe, in suggesting that the redefined security pact effectively calls for constitutional amendments, says he plans to encourage public demonstrations against what he views as Tokyo’s attempts to expand the role of the Japanese military.

The “Nikkei Weekly”, a leading financial newspaper, also commented that the provision of military equipment to U.S. forces for use outside of Japan “violates the constitution”.

The state-run NHK television station has also added its voice to the debate. “There is wide concern here over the expected declaration which paves the way for U.S. bases in Japan becoming more important for Asian security,” commented one NHK journalist during a morning television discussion.

Some NHK journalists went as far as to say that Japan’s increased military role could lead to a split in the government due to opposition from Socialist partners who have traditionally protested a high profile defence role for Japan.

But Tomihisa Sakamoto, noted Japanese defence analyst, says that Japan, being the strong economic power it is, has a duty to assume a greater responsibility in ensuring regional security.

Also, political commentator Minoru Tada says it was important that Japan and the United States put aside domestic political interests and bilateral trade disputes to show East Asia that they were committed to maintaining security in the region.

Wednesday’s declaration identifies North Korea as a potential threat to that security and notes as well that the recent tension along the Taiwan Strait underlined the need for a strong Japan- U.S. military alliance.

“Recent friction in East Asia has made it all the more important for Japanese leaders and bureaucrats to support the unpopular security pact,” said visiting Prof. Kent Calder head of the U.S.- Japan relations department at Princeton University.

As far as the North Korea threat is concerned, Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young Sam on Tuesday tried to break new ground in calling for four-party talks to formally end the 1950-53 Korean war. Pyongyang is however yet to respond to the proposal which would also bring China to the table.

But while the U.S. president will leave Tokyo reasonably satisfied with his efforts to paste over security concerns, Clinton will be aware that niggling trade matters still need to be addressed.

Before leaving Thursday, Clinton is expected to visit a Chrysler showroom as a symbolic action of his continuing efforts to open Japanese markets to U.S. auto-manufacturers.

Three years ago at a Group of Seven (G-7) meeting in Tokyo, he began an aggressive campaign to correct a major trade imbalance by trying to prise open the Japanese market for U.S. exports.

Since then, little progress has been made. Moreover, while maintaining a hefty trade surplus with the United States, Japan has been expanding its trade relations with China and the burgeoning South-east Asian markets.

Japanese investment in Asia has risen dramatically — up from 25 billion dollars in the mid-1980s to dollars 100 billion dollars today and economists predict that China, by 2010, will be Japan’s most important trading partner, taking over from the United States.

U.S. observers argue that the surest way of making Japan bow to U.S. pressure is to expand the security pact for the mutual interest in both the political and economic spheres. But Tokyo, has up to now insisted, and successfully so, that trade matters be kept out of the pact.