Russia Believes the United States is Trying to Remilitarize Japan
Jose Nino
|
During an interview with Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev declared that the United States has pushed Japan towards remilitarizing and wants to turn the Japanese into the geopolitical equivalent of kamikazes as they die for the interests of the US.
“Washington has pushed Tokyo toward militarizing once again. Japan’s self-defense forces are becoming a full-fledged army capable of conducting offensive operations,” Patrushev stated.
Per Patrushev, US foreign policy decision-makers want “to make the citizens of the island state [Japan] kamikazes again, dying for the interests of others.” In this context, he also called attention to how the Collective West has deliberately stayed silent on “how in the early 20th century their [Japanese] aggressiveness was used against the Soviet Union and China, while in the end the Japanese turned their weapons against the Americans, the British and their allies.”
On top of arming Japan, “Washington is trying to revive the spirit of Japanese militarism that seemed to have been eradicated in 1945,” Patrushev stated.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently announced that Japan had purchased 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US.
Russia clearly has historical fears of a remilitarized Japan. Imperial Japan dealt a humiliating blow to Imperial Russia during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. On top of that, Japan engaged in numerous border conflicts with the Soviets during the lead up to World War II.
While Japan has every right to remilitarize, the US should not be fomenting this with the aim of getting it embroiled in a conflict with China and/or Russia. The US ultimately needs to take a hands-off approach to East Asian geopolitical affairs.
Share: