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2 The emerging axis of
democracy By Hisane Masaki
by the "professionalism" of
Japanese troops.
The Japan-Australia
security pact was signed about three weeks after
US Vice President Dick Cheney made an Asia-Pacific
tour late last month. Unlike his Asian tour three
years ago, which took him to Japan, China and
South Korea, Cheney this time visited only Japan
and Australia, underscoring the particular
importance Washington attaches to strengthened
ties with Tokyo and
Canberra.
Washington
has thrown its weight behind closer security ties
between Tokyo and Canberra. With relations between
the US and South Korea deteriorating in recent
years, the administration of President George W
Bush is seen by some pundits as shifting the focus
of its security policy in the Asia-Pacific away
from ties with Japan and South Korea and toward
those with Japan and Australia.
Japan, the
US and Australia inaugurated a three-way security
dialogue of foreign ministers last March. By
establishing a ''two plus two'' forum of foreign
and defense ministers from Japan and Australia,
similar to those each already has with the US,
Tokyo and Canberra want to strengthen security
cooperation among the three nations.
The
nascent trilateral security dialogue among Japan,
the US and Australia does not include defense
ministers or other officials from their defense
ministries. Since scheduling meetings of all the
foreign and defense ministers from the three
nations is difficult, Abe and Howard, apparently
with prior consent of the US, agreed to set up
trilateral talks of bureau-chief-level foreign and
defense officials among the three nations.
The Japan-Australia declaration is also
widely seen as part of efforts to implement a
four-way "strategic dialogue" among Japan, the US
and Australia plus India that Abe has proposed
since taking the helm of the Japanese government,
although this idea seems unlikely to come into
fruition any time soon. Japan invited Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh to Japan last December,
his first Tokyo trip since taking office,
apparently in hopes of strengthening ties with the
South Asian country as a counterbalance to the
growing influence of China in Asia.
China's fears of containment To
be sure, both Tokyo and Canberra have taken pains
to dismiss suggestions that strengthened security
ties could strain their ties with China, saying
that the just-signed security pact is not directed
at that country. And the security pact is quite
different in nature from the Japan-US and
Australia-US alliances, which emphasize defense
obligations. But Beijing will probably not take
the Japanese and Australian assurances at face
value.
Both Japan and Australia emphasized
that the security pact inked on Tuesday was not
directed specifically at China or any other
countries in the region. "This declaration lifts
the security aspects of our relationship more
closely to the level of our economic and
commercial ties," Howard said after signing the
document. "Neither China nor any other country in
the region should see this declaration as being
antagonistic toward them."
Tokyo and
Washington, increasingly concerned about China's
rapid military buildup and modernization, have
called for Beijing to make more transparent its
military policy, including military spending,
which has kept swelling at a double-digit pace in
percentage terms for nearly two decades.
Meanwhile, Beijing has been alarmed by
strengthened security cooperation between Tokyo
and Washington in recent years.
Japan and
the United States signed a final pact on the
realignment of US bases and forces on Japanese
soil last May. Aimed at reducing strains on
Japanese communities that host bases while
maintaining the US presence in Japan, the pact
will also further cement the bonds between the
close allies through increased integration of
their military operations and pave the way for
Tokyo's greater involvement in US-led operations,
not only in Asia but globally.
The move
toward stronger security alliance between Japan
and the US has highly alarmed China, especially
since a peaceful settlement to tensions in the
Taiwan Strait was included in a list of common
strategic goals to be pursued by Tokyo and
Washington under the new security arrangements.
Beijing still regards Taiwan as a renegade
province that must be reunified with the mainland,
even by force if necessary.
There are also
suspicions in China that the real US motive for
the sweeping overhaul of its military's global
posture might be what some call the "soft
containment" of the rapidly ascending military and
economic power. The Bush administration publicly
denies any intention to pursue a containment
policy toward China and claims its policy is to
encourage China to be a "responsible stakeholder"
in the international system.
Japan is
Australia's largest trading partner, followed by
China and the US. Australia is a major supplier of
coal, iron ore, oil and natural gas, which
together account for nearly 60% of its Japan-bound
exports. With the world's largest uranium
deposits, Australia is also an important country
for Japan's civilian nuclear policy.
Hisane Masaki is a Tokyo-based
journalist, commentator and scholar on
international politics and economy. Masaki's
e-mail address is yiu45535@nifty.com.
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