Obama’s Support for India and Japan for U.N. Security Council, an Empty Promise

Obama's Support for India and Japan for the U.N. Security Council, an empty promise

Kuai Zhe Yuan Senior Commentator, Member of Baijia Strategic Think Tank Council

The purpose of Obama's 10-day trip to Asia is expediency, that is, not only to convince people to buy U.S. products, but also to lay the foundation for an alliance to contain China. He also gave empty promises supporting India's and Japan's applications for permanent member status into the United Nations Security Council. The political and media corps of India and Japan were extremely excited, particularly in India where there is a lot of hype. Yet Obama's supposed support of India and Japan are just empty promises. They simply will not materialize.

Are President Obama and the U.S. government really sincere in supporting India’s and Japan's applications to become permanent members of the United Nations Security Council? An outside observer would question such support, but participants like India and Japan are too involved to realize that President Obama's support is in fact hypocritical.

Using Political Diplomacy as Bait

Historically, those involved were usually unable to read the situation well and were blind to the truth. This is especially true when one is extremely anxious for something that it has been chasing for a long time. Therefore, it becomes really easy to be deceived and carried away by sweet nothings and empty promises. Of course, such verbal promises to India and Japan by the U.S. are enough to get them excited, grateful and indulging in one's feelings. If one is to maintain a certain degree of level-headedness and analyze the whole situation logically, it is not difficult to find out that Obama's verbal promise to support India and Japan is just hot air.

In all honesty, Obama's supposed support for India and Japan was just verbal. It is completely insincere and unserious. Obama is well aware that although such support is beneficial to Obama's Democratic Party in the short term, this will threaten the long-term benefits of the U.S. and its position as a world leader. One should never dig his own grave. How can anyone take Obama's words seriously when his open support for India and Japan is only brilliant political language, just a nice way to express things? Also, Obama's open declaration is not a sincere, but rather, a hypocritical display of political diplomacy. There is an ulterior motive, and that is to win over India and hold onto Japan. In inciting India’s and Japan’s hatred toward China, that alliance achieves the goal of containing China. The U.S., India and Japan are all well aware that China's engagement toward India regarding regional hegemony. And Japan, which is a potential threat to the security of China and Asia, is not resigned to its World War II failure. Therefore, it is only natural that China will not support India and Japan before any fundamental change takes place. Obviously, Obama's support is only diplomatic bait.

India's and Japan's One-Sided Affair

Even if one is to take U.S. support for India and Japan to become permanent members of the Security Council seriously, it is not just the U.S.’ decision. Permanent members like the U.S., China, Britain, France and Russia must come to a consensus, but two-thirds of the approximately 190-member United Nations also need to support the motion. This is not only a tedious process but it’s slow. It is also difficult to coordinate balance. How can India and Japan rely on Obama's lip service and think that everything he said would happen? Although U.N. reform is certain and necessary, the degree and timing of reform are still uncertain with many variables. India and Japan may not necessarily be selected as permanent members. The U.S. Department of State is more aware of the old and new India than Obama. The old India had never been on the U.S.’ side when it came to fighting to become the leader of developing nations or to be a leader itself. It is impossible that India will support the U.S. from now on. Supporting India's entry into the Security Council is a last resort where the risks outweigh the gains. In fact, withholding all support would be best.

Therefore, Obama made an empty promise, supporting India in exchange for a huge arms order of 11 billion U.S. dollars from India. At the same time, a spokesman from the U.S. Department of State publicly added (in regards to Obama's support for India to become a permanent member) that India's application requires consultation between the U.S. and members of the Security Council and the General Assembly. The process itself will be long; this will be done to warn India that its application cannot be decided by the U.S. alone. What is more certain is that Obama's support for India's application into the Security Council is not to be confused with Obama's support for India's entry into the Security Council. The truth is, India relishes Obama's support, misinterpreting it as support for entry into the Security Council. Otherwise, it could be that India just wanted to indulge in this Americanized scam temporarily.

Japan's Attachment to the U.S. Would Change as Permanent Member
　
Let's talk about Obama’s Democratic Party's support for Japan to become a permanent member of the U.N. As mentioned above, Obama is supporting Japan’s application to become a permanent member but not supporting Japan as a permanent member. In this respect, perhaps Japan is more realistic than India. During the APEC meeting in Yokohama, Obama expressed his support for Japan, which, compared to when he expressed support for India, did not create much of a buzz. Japan had already received such support from President George W. Bush; therefore, it was natural that Japan did not get as excited and fanatic over having the U.S. president's support in applying to become a permanent member of the Security Council. Also, Japan is well aware of its current status, clearly understanding that it is under U.S. military occupation and has yet to fully establish its status as a normal country. To be a permanent member requires overcoming this obstacle. To be on par with the U.S. is an extremely difficult task. During the reign of former Prime Minister Hatoyama, the current Democratic Party made every effort to protest (this occupation). Eventually, it was suppressed by Obama's government and the party lost its important prime minister position. As a result, internal and external difficulties occurred. Besieged on all fronts, the current prime minister, Naoto Kan, learned from the mistakes and is now willing to let the U.S. take the lead. Obviously the only and most practical thing to do is support the U.S. so that Japan can retain its position. If this continues, rather than advancing to permanent member status, Japan is furthering itself from it.

From the standpoint of U.S. strategic interests, it will never let Japan become a permanent member. Japan becoming a permanent member only means that the U.S. military occupation and political foreign control would come to an end, and this means that there will be no end to [America’s] troubles. This also means that the balance between Asian military affairs and politics would be ruined. The U.S. would lose control of its leadership in Asia and containment of China. What is noteworthy is that even after Germany has completely rid itself of fascism, the sediments still continue to surface from time to time. So how about Japan, which has yet to disentangle itself from its Japanese militarism? There is bound to be danger in [militarism] restoration, and Japan would criticize and expose the U.S. for its atomic bombing crime. The U.S. would definitely not want to see it. As much as the U.S. is manipulating Japan, there is still a bottom line to manipulating Japan against China. How can the U.S. allow Japan to have the same status and create conditions and opportunities for Japanese militarism? The U.S. will definitely not do something so foolish unless the current president has gone mad. Not until Japan has truly repented, put an end to militarism and become a true real world power will it have hope of receiving the whole world's recognition to become a permanent member. To put it more bluntly, Obama's claims to support Japan's application to become a permanent member is just an empty promise and serves no purpose.