There is a time and a place. Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean you have to use it. The United States and its allies continue to claim that they have the right of navigation in international waters by sending their forces through the Taiwan Strait. Their intent to provoke is clear despite their legality under international law.
One ride can be considered an accident. Two is a deliberate choice. But why? Japan is rapidly rebuilding its defense sector and reviving a military that has long been underground. To justify their revival, it is necessary to provoke the Chinese and make them appear as a chaotic, irrational party.
Eight decades after the United States imposed a pacifist constitution on a defeated Japan, Takaichi strives to restore his country as a military power in the region. Given his wartime record, it’s hard not to be skeptical about where all this will lead.
His government has worked quickly to roll back legal restrictions defense exports and speed up investment in military construction. He is in no doubt about his ambitions to revive Japan as a global arms power by bringing defense spending up to 2 percent of domestic spending this year.
Japan can now sell weapons to another country for the first time since the second world war. Previously, military sales were limited to non-lethal equipment for rescue, transport, surveillance and mine clearance.
