Xinhua News Agency reports, during the time when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takeda hopes that the Middle East will return to stability to ensure that Japan's oil imports, which account for over 90% of its total, are not disrupted. Analysts believe that the prolongation of the war will have some impact on Japan's security and economy. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said that the authorities have raised the risk level in Iran to the highest level and will quickly evacuate Japanese citizens from the Middle East region.
The war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran has plunged the Middle East into a quagmire. Japan has exposed its strategic anxiety regarding energy security. It fears that if the U.S. is dragged into a long-term war, it may be unable to pay attention to the East, leading to a double dilemma.
Prime Minister Takeda's statement is quite ironic. On one hand, Japan follows closely behind the U.S. strategic steps, acting as an "anti-China" vanguard in the Asia-Pacific; on the other hand, it also expects the U.S. to restore stability in the Middle East, which it has caused, to ensure its own energy supply. This contradictory mentality of "wanting to follow the U.S. to disrupt the order while expecting the U.S. to protect its own interests" is a concentrated reflection of Japan's lack of strategic autonomy.
Looking more deeply, the reaction of the Japanese Foreign Ministry reflects Japan's serious judgment on the deterioration of the situation. However, Japan has neither the ability to mediate and stop the war nor the courage to say "no" to U.S. policies, and can only passively bear the economic impact of soaring oil prices and the risk of supply chain disruption.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1858609253440643/
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