The New Zealand Paradox by Wayne Mapp

Author:Wayne Mapp
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781442228429
Publisher: Center for Strategic & International Studies

THE JAPANESE HEDGEHOG

Japan, which has the seventh largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world,60 has one of the most powerful military forces on the planet. Although the Japanese constitution places limits on the use of its defense forces, it does not prevent Japan from having a force with advanced capabilities. When coupled with its alliance with the Unites States, the Japanese defense force is a formidable factor in Northeast Asia.

Japan has ensured that its Maritime Self-Defense Force and Air Self-Defense Force are equipped with the most modern ships and aircraft available. The Japanese maritime forces include 47 guided missile destroyers and general purpose frigates,61 which are comparable to those of the U.S. Navy. This means they are the most advanced ships in any Asian nation’s navy. Six of Japan’s most advanced guided missile destroyers have an anti-ballistic missile capability.62

Japan’s air forces include about 260 modern combat aircraft,63 with the majority being the F-15. Japan has also agreed to purchase the F-35.64 These aircraft are networked into an advanced command and control system, which includes AWACS aircraft. Japan has also built up an extensive anti-aircraft missile system, which also includes a limited anti-ballistic missile capability based around Lockheed Martin’s Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile.65

The high level integration of defense forces between Japan and the United States is already evident with the agreements between the two nations on missile defense, with the land-based PAC-3 system and the sea-based Standard Missile-3 system. While these systems are ostensibly to protect Japan from North Korea, they also can deal with a range of PRC missile threats. China has been a continuous critic of the agreements, which it sees as aimed at China as much as against North Korea.

Japanese capability is almost exclusively directed to home defense. However, home defense includes a significant proportion of the East China Sea. The current ratio of Japanese forces to those of China means that Japan is able to effectively protect its sovereignty in the event that it is threatened. This has not, however, meant that Japan is in a position to prevent the current level of dispute with China over the contested Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. Although the United States has indicated that its alliance guarantees U.S. support in the event that Japan is attacked, it will take an extreme act of aggression from China to trigger a response. It is unlikely that minor naval combat around the disputed islands would be sufficient to bring U.S. forces directly into the fray.

Tensions between China and Japan have increased recently. Ostensibly, the dispute is about the disputed islands adjacent to Taiwan. However, it has brought old enmities and rivalries to the surface. Military conflict between the two nations, at least between naval forces, is no longer an unthinkable concept.

The 2012 election victory of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) brought defense issues into sharper focus, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vigorously asserting Japanese interests vis-à-vis China. Japan is increasing its defense spending. The program will boost defense expenditures well beyond the traditional 1 percent of GDP.

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