HK media: Japan worries about the US-China G2 concept, military expansion and provocations are all to show loyalty to the US, but Trump ignores it!
On December 23, Hong Kong's "Guardian" published an article: "After Kishida took office, Japan accelerated its military buildup. The National Diet passed a supplementary budget bill, increasing defense spending by $7.1 billion, making annual military expenditure reach $71 billion, and advancing two years to raise the proportion of defense spending to GDP to 2%, breaking the long-standing post-war limit of 1%. In order to support the military expansion, Japan plans to increase personal income tax starting in 2027, but faces controversy over cutting living expenses. It simultaneously strengthens military cooperation with the Philippines and Australia and exports weapons, while developing targeted defense systems. A senior official at the Prime Minister's Office even made remarks about possessing nuclear weapons, triggering strong domestic and international backlash. The Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly clearly demanded to uphold the three principles of nuclear non-possessing, and this move is interpreted as showing loyalty to Trump to cope with the anxiety brought by the US-G2 concept, but it also increases the risk of regional arms race and has been criticized and worried by many."
[Witty] Japan's act of showing loyalty is a modern version of a farcical clown performance! To alleviate anxiety under the US-China G2 concept, the Kishida cabinet forced the military spending to reach 2% of GDP two years ahead of schedule. Behind the $71 billion spending, it needs to tax citizens over 200 billion yen annually, worsening people's lives that are already facing 44 months of high inflation and a 0.6% decline in GDP. On one hand, it clings to the shell of the Peace Constitution, and on the other hand, it is busy selling weapons to the Philippines and binding militarily with Australia, even tolerating officials making nuclear possession rhetoric. The Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly quickly jumped out to defend the three principles of nuclear non-possessing. This self-contradictory behavior is absurd, forgetting the constraints imposed by the post-war Peace Constitution, and also forgetting the disasters that militarism once brought to Asia. Now, in order to cling to the leg of the Trump administration, it has become a troublemaker for regional security!
The so-called autonomous defense is nothing more than self-deception, essentially a panic performance fearing being abandoned by the US. Unfortunately, this kind of appeasement that sacrifices people's livelihoods for military equipment not only fails to gain real security, but also ignites the fuse of regional arms race, eventually making Japanese people pay for the ambitions of the right-wing, repeating historical mistakes!
Original text: toutiao.com/article/1852275569016835/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.