People attend a protest rally in entrance of the National Diet in Tokyo, Japan, October 19, 2026. /Xinhua
Editor’s notice: Zhou Xin is an observer of worldwide affairs. The article displays the creator’s opinions and never essentially the views of CGTN.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s overseas coverage is dealing with rising criticism at residence, with rising requires a extra pragmatic China coverage and higher scrutiny of the Japan-US alliance following a robbery-murder case involving a US service member in Okinawa.
Former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who chairs the Japan-China Association for the Promotion of International Trade, has made a collection of pointed remarks since his current go to to China. He bluntly said that the present tensions in Japan-China relations have been of Japan’s personal making. Recalling Prime Minister Takaichi’s remarks final November a couple of “Taiwan contingency,” Iwaya stated that he had been shocked whereas listening to her handle. He additionally dismissed as unrealistic her imaginative and prescient of constructing Japan shine brilliantly on the middle of the world. As a center energy, he argued, Tokyo want to not faux to be a significant energy, however ought to as an alternative pursue steady ties with China, as regional nations anticipate it to do. Separately, former Japanese ambassador to China Yuji Miyamoto burdened in a commentary that Japan’s ties with China are very important to Japan’s peaceable growth and urged Prime Minister Takaichi to renew dialogue with China as quickly as doable.
The Okinawa homicide case has additionally uncovered what many in Japan see because the stark inequality underpinning the Japan-US alliance. Many really feel humiliated {that a} sovereign nation seems unable to train full authority over a severe crime dedicated by itself soil by a member of a overseas army. Critics argue that Takaichi’s protest to Washington quantities to little greater than political posturing, sidestepping the central situation of the extraterritorial rights loved by US forces stationed in Japan. Many concern the case will comply with a well-recognized sample: an preliminary present of indignation, adopted by a token settlement with no actual accountability. Okinawan residents are demanding solutions: how for much longer should they endure such hurt.
Yet these criticisms seem to have fallen on deaf ears. From day one, the Takaichi administration has pursued an more and more one-sided overseas coverage, antagonizing neighboring China whereas searching for to curry favor with the United States.
Rather than enhancing Japan’s worldwide standing, this strategy dangers leaving the nation extra weak and remoted. Deteriorating ties with China have put strain on Japanese exports and tourism, including to the cost-of-living pressures dealing with unusual individuals. By selling narratives of exterior threats, Takaichi is prioritizing army spending over individuals’s livelihoods. Its FY2026 protection funds has hit a document 9 trillion yen ($57 billion), with extra to return in FY2027. At the identical time, she has repeatedly used worldwide occasions to advertise a revisionist view of historical past, interesting to right-wing supporters whereas disregarding the sensitivities of Asian neighbors who suffered below Japanese wartime aggression.
Residents stage a protest towards Japanese authorities’s deployment of long-range missiles with counterstrike capabilities in Kumamoto Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture, in Tokyo, Japan, March 31, 2026. /Xinhua
Tokyo can be pursuing what critics describe as a coverage of “diplomacy of military expansion.” It has accepted exports of deadly weapons, moved to promote surplus army tools to Southeast Asian nations, and stepped up joint drills with the US, the Philippines and different companions. Such strikes danger fuelling an arms race and undermining regional peace and stability.
An rising variety of Japanese view Takaichi’s hard-line overseas coverage not as a supply of safety, however as a supply of danger, one that might weaken reasonably than strengthen the nation.
Her extremely performative diplomacy has additionally drawn criticism. She has been ridiculed for lavishing reward on the United States in methods critics think about unbecoming of a nationwide chief. During final yr’s East Asia Summit in Malaysia, she laid flowers at a memorial to Japanese warfare lifeless, describing the event as a transferring second to mirror on Malaysian historical past, but made no point out of the atrocities Japanese forces dedicated there. Her remarks drew sharp criticism in Malaysia. Local students famous that honoring these chargeable for wartime atrocities inevitably reopens wounds for victims and their descendants.
Trying to carry a torch towards the wind dangers burning one’s personal hand. The Takaichi administration has turned diplomacy right into a platform for political theater and the promotion of her right-wing agenda, dropping sight of its basic objective: serving the pursuits of the Japanese individuals. Public discontent is mounting. Japan’s personal Diplomatic Bluebook emphasizes the significance of listening to the general public and conducting diplomacy that instructions understanding and assist. By that commonplace, the Takaichi administration nonetheless has a lot work to do.
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Source: CGTN