Tokyo Will Pay Washington for Protection against the People’s Republic of China

Immediately after Hu Jintao’s overseas visit, the U.S. and Japanese Navies conducted maneuvers. Their task was to parry the landing of Chinese troops. Citing the threat from China’s direction, America wants to include South Korea in a bilateral alliance. According to a Nezavisimaya Gazeta expert, the Japanese desire to forget about their defeat in World War II is easing the Americans’ geopolitical game.

No sooner had the ink begun to dry in President Hu Jintao’s and U.S. President Barack Obama’s signatures on an announcement, in which a promise was given to build relationships between the two powers on the principles of partnership, than the Japanese and American Navies began drills. Their goal was to repel an invasion of Kyushu. Kyushu is one of the four main Japanese islands, situated in the south of the archipelago.

The exercise scenario supposes that the island will be invaded and that America will come to the rescue. The aggressor is not specified on computer screens, but for everyone in headquarters it is clear who it is. It is “the big country to the west” of Kyushu, said a U.S. military official to the Associated Press — in other words, China.

The drills will continue until Feb. 3, and they are referred to as “Yama Sakura.” Toshi Yoshihara, an associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, said that in conducting maneuvers Washington solves two problems: sending a signal about possible retaliation to China and affirming its readiness to support Tokyo.

This military demonstration was preceded by exercises in the East China Sea, close to islands that are claimed by Beijing and Tokyo, which were conducted by a military group accompanying the American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

These are all links in a strategic chain that is directed to the deterrence of China. Why is Washington reviving a formula that is characteristic of the Cold War era? American analysts give the following answer to this question: For many years, the United States has been a dominating power in the region, defending Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and guaranteeing the freedom of vessels to travel these main maritime trade routes. Now, China is challenging America, directing its own military ships even deeper into international waters.

Japan remains the main U.S. ally in the Asia-Pacific region. At first glance, Washington has made concessions to Tokyo for the sake of strengthening this alliance. Washington agreed to transfer air force exercises, in which 20 F-15 fighter planes take part, from the Japanese island of Okinawa to the U.S. island of Guam. To some degree, the transfer of exercises responds to their hopes. As Victor Pavlyatenko, a leading researcher at the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of the Russian Far East, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta: “In the eyes of the Japanese, American bases are like birthmarks that remind them of their defeat in World War II. Hence the desire to get rid of them. Americans are not opposed to playing on the dissenting moods of the Japanese, and, as a matter of fact, the Americans won. Indeed, Tokyo agreed to cover the costs of exercises in Guam. Regarding the Chinese threat, both countries need this bugaboo. It helps build up their military potential. Moreover, the U.S. wants to include South Korea in this bilateral alliance. However, China is strengthening its influence in Asia by peaceful means — through investments and trade credits. In military terms, China is not yet in a position to compete with America.”