According to recent reports in the
Japanese media, Japan's ruling alliance, the Liberal Democratic Party has
indicated that Japan needs to make a grand-scale reassessment of its
"defense plan program," setting the guiding principle for its
medium-term defense force equipment deployment. Reports from within the LDP itself
mentioned that in order to respond to the situation on the Korean
Peninsular, and the instability in the Taiwan Strait, the deployment of
the Self-Defense Forces should be moved southwards to Kyushu and Okinawa.
There should also be a concrete blueprint for missile defense. The Defense Plan Program is the
guiding principle for Japan's five-year medium-range defense program, and
the current (2001-2005) program was passed in December 2000, so according
to the regulations, the "defense plan program" shouldn't be
revised until 2005, but the LDP suggests that this date should be moved
forward to 2003, clearly showing the pressing importance it has for
Japan's security. In fact, since the end of the cold
war, according to the analysis of the security situation made by Japan's
Ministry of Defense annually published as the "White Paper on
Defense," the major threats to Japan's security came from Russia in
the early 1990s, from North Korea in the mid-nineties, and in the last two
years, obvious threats have come from China. We can see from this that
threats to Japan's security have been moving southwards, particularly in
March 1996, when China held missile tests at the time of Taiwan's
presidential elections, the North Korean Taepo Dong missile test launch in
1998, when missiles flew over Japanese airspace, and since 1999, the
Chinese naval fleet's training maneuvers in the maritime space around the
Tiao Yu Tai Islands, and repeated dispatches of marine investigative ships
to the waters around Okinawa. But the latest thing to anger
Japan has been Chinese naval spy ships collecting intelligence on Kyushu
and Okinawa. In May last year, a Chinese spy ship even passed through
Japan's two most important straits, the Tsugaru Strait and the Tsushima
Strait, collecting intelligence along the Japanese coast. This provoked anger throughout
Japan, and it the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) given each year to
China was called into question. In fact, China was brazenly expanding its
military activities, and had already made a clear threat to Japan's
security, which was the major objective behind the southwards deployment
of Japanese military power. Actually, between 1996 and 2000,
Japan gradually scaled down its troops for medium-term defense, but
increased military strength in the southwest region, and they have now
revealed that the medium-term defense will establish special forces for
off-shore defense to be responsible for the security of the southwestern
maritime space and islands. Also, they will construct two
13,000-ton transport vessels and buy additional aerial refueling planes,
to deal with the security threat in the south. Apart from this, in
accordance with the new "Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense
Cooperation," Japan will supply the U.S. forces with logistic support
in their maintenance of peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region,
and consequently, the southwards deployment of Japanese military force is
a necessary measure tying in with the U.S. safeguarding of security in
areas which include the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Obviously, Japan also hopes to make use of its contributions to Asia Pacific security to boost its international influence. We can anticipate that in the future, Japan will use more concrete measures to move military forces southwards, in order to respond to the gradual escalation of China's military threat. In our viewpoint that how to
let Japan could be warned by the China’s military threat is the key of
security of southwestern region. Chinese President Jiang Zemin said
President Bush is a person he "can do business with" but added
U.S. arms sales to Taiwan were a threat to peace in Asia, according to an
interview with The New York Times published on August 9, 2001. Jiang said he had a conversation
with Bush, initiated by the U.S. president, last month as tensions were
running high between the two counties over a series of incidents. "Although it was not a video
phone where I could see his facial expressions, from his voice I could
feel that he was a person we can do business with," Jiang told the
paper through an interpreter. Jiang hinted that U.S. plans to
develop a missile defense system would not cause China to step down its
missile program, which the Chinese leader said was for self-defense. "The purpose of our
possession of weapons is not for offensive purposes. They are all for our
own defense. So we would keep an appropriate number of weapons to meet our
own defense," Jiang said. Jiang said in the interview, which
the Times said Chinese diplomats initiated, that China was opposed to U.S.
arms sales to Taiwan, saying the policy, which included the Bush
administration's announcement of an arms sale to Taiwan earlier this year,
was "utterly wrong." "Such practice will not serve
the interests of the people of Taiwan and is not conducive to peace in
Asia, and it will also harm the U.S.'s own interest," he said. Jiang said that the U.S. sale of
advanced weapons to Taiwan "would be very dangerous,"
reiterating the policy that China wants a peaceful reunification with
Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province. "Our intention is a peaceful
unification and one country, two systems," Jiang said, as he
cautioned that if pro-independence forces ever try to move Taiwan away
from the mainland, "China can never renounce the use of force." Jiang said the China has made
great strides in promoting democracy, but added in a country of 1.2
billion people, it would be impossible for China to practice democracy in
a similar fashion as in the West. On the economic front, Jiang told
the paper that he sees China's gross domestic product growing by a rate of
7 percent annually as the country will embark on several large-scale
projects as well as boosting its high-tech sector. He said that some backward
industries in China would likely suffer if the country were admitted to
the Word Trade Organization but added that in the long run, joining the
world trade grouping would benefit China's economy. "I think it (joining the WTO)
will do more good than bad for China's competitiveness in international
markets in the 21st century." On the contrary, China has
finished preparations for what it says will be its largest ever-military
exercises just off Taiwan, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Aug. 9, 2001. The daily cited a military
briefing, which said all roads in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province,
which faces Taiwan, and all roads leading south to the Dongshan islands
have been closed to civilian traffic. The paper quoted Chinese military
officials as saying the drill would simulate how the People's Liberation
Army would "smash at any time any plots by Taiwan independent
separatists." China has repeatedly
threatened the use of force to reunite Taiwan with the mainland and in
recent months bolstered its forces along the Taiwan Straits and increased
its military budget significantly. The report didn't say when the
games would begin, but military units in the three coastal provinces of
Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong have been preparing for the drill since
April. May be the story could tell us the
“truth” … A groom used to spend whole
days in currycombing and rubbing down his horse, but at the same time
stole his oats, and sold them for his own profit. “Alas!” said the
horse. “If you really wish me to be in good condition, you should groom
me less, and feed me more,” “Beijing” acted as a “groom” or
“Washington” is “horse”? So, Taiwan needs your support.
Yours Sincerely,
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