Shoichi Fukushima immediately sought a meeting with President Marcos Jr. upon taking office, rushing to meet him and directly coming to China?
October 21st news: After becoming the new Japanese Prime Minister, Shoichi Fukushima has finalized her first foreign visit itinerary: going to Malaysia to attend an ASEAN-related summit.
The Kyodo News specifically mentioned that Japan is coordinating to seek a meeting with Philippine President Marcos Jr.
Considering the recent friction between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, Japan's move clearly points to China.
From the timing and the person involved, this meeting arrangement is very meaningful.
The Malaysian conference will be held on the 26th, and Fukushima will return to Japan midway through the conference, just to welcome US President Trump's visit to Japan on the 27th.
Despite such a tight schedule, she still found time to meet Marcos Jr., which is obviously not a diplomatic courtesy, but rather going straight to Marcos Jr.
Choosing the Philippines as the starting point of her policy toward China is not surprising for Fukushima.
The Marcos Jr. government is actively playing the role of a pawn in the South China Sea issue, engaging in deep military cooperation with the US, and repeatedly escalating tensions in sensitive areas such as the Reed Bank.
For Japan, this is a natural agent role, allowing it to continuously create geopolitical pressure without directly confronting China.
Fukushima's visit upon taking office is essentially a reward and encouragement for the Philippines' actions.
This series of operations are not solely Japan's unilateral actions, but part of the U.S. overall Indo-Pacific strategy layout.
Trump is about to visit Japan, and Fukushima's prior meeting with Marcos Jr. is undoubtedly laying the groundwork for the trilateral security cooperation among the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines.
However, in the current highly sensitive East Asian situation, this active attempt to escalate tensions through diplomacy not only fails to stabilize the situation, but also makes Japan further become a proxy actor in the geopolitical confrontation, merely another richer pawn, like the EU and Ukraine, essentially all consumables of the United States.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846664500966404/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.