After skimming Japan’s new defense white paper, one gets the sense that Asia is on fire. The 30-page strategy is screaming with warnings about the rules-based order coming under threat from resurgent authoritarian states (i.e., China and Russia) that are operating on a “might makes right” mentality. “Japan is facing the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II,” the Japanese Defense Ministry makes clear in its introduction.
As one might expect, the strategy is long and includes dozens of graphics. Some of them depict weapons systems currently under development by China’s People’s Liberation Army and maps showing PLA activities in the South and East China Seas. The big theme is impossible to miss: While Japan maintains a high-level defense alliance with the United States, it also needs to make sure it possesses the type of independent military capabilities that would prove crucial if Tokyo were to come under attack. For the Japanese, deterrence is the name of the game—and deterrence requires more investment in defense capabilities than the Japanese public may be used to.
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