Who is America's closest ally?
- By An Gang
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Beijing Review, June 19, 2015
Differencing ambitions
An enhanced U.S.-Japan military alliance, however, is by no means bound to bring them into an inseparable relationship. The two sides have an increasing number of differences on many issues.
For example, the Obama administration agrees with Japan's abolishment of the ban on its right to exercise collective self-defense. But the United States has expressed concerns over Abe's attempts to deny Japanese atrocities during WWII. Abe's 2013 visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors war criminals, has also disappointed the U.S. side. The Obama administration has repeatedly demanded that Abe cautiously handle historical issues and ease tensions with neighboring countries such as China and South Korea.
During his visit to Japan on April 8, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said that he welcomed Japan to take part in air patrols over the South China Sea. But Japan did not respond positively to the advice, because the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces are not capable of maintaining intensive surveillance in both the waters of the East and South China seas. Moreover, Japan fears that its involvement in the South China Sea disputes between China and other Asian countries will lead to further tensions with its East Asian neighbor.
There is also a deep chasm in economic and trade relations between the United States and Japan. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) multilateral free trade agreement is a cornerstone of U.S. trade policy and the Obama administration's Asia-Pacific rebalance strategy. The TPP negotiations should be completed before this summer as planned. Bilateral talks between the United States and Japan are a critical part of the TPP negotiations. But the two sides have not reached consensus on some key issues such as Japan's import quota for U.S. rice and U.S. tariffs on Japanese auto parts. During his visit to the United States this year, Abe did not offer any compromise on these issues. He appeared to be more interested in signing a Japan-U.S. Economic Partnership Agreement, which could be considered a crowning achievement for the prime minister during his tenure.
Abe boasts that Japan is the closest U.S. ally, primarily for protecting Japan's security and rivaling with China. But such relations won't last long.
U.S. foreign policy always puts its own interests first, while being guided by political realism. Enhancing its alliance with Japan won't prevail over the needs of the United States to maintain stable relations with China. In U.S. policy toward the Asia-Pacific region, China and Japan are two equally important focuses. U.S.-Japan relations ultimately depend on the development of China-U.S. ties. As China becomes the second largest economy in the world, the China-U.S. relations are increasingly of global significance. In this light, Japan's role appears less important.
Some say that the two countries may never truly reach common ground, owing to unbridgeable gaps in language and culture.
What Washington should think about is whether or not the traditional way of protecting U.S. global interests through alliances will continue to work under the circumstances of China's development bringing big changes to the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S.-led military alliance put the interests of certain countries ahead of those of the international community, an approach which by its very nature will fail to win over all countries.
The author is an op-ed contributor to Beijing Review.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)