What Are the Japan-US New Defense Cooperation Guidelilnes Up To?
China News and Report 01 June 1999 by Lu Zhongwei, deputy director of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations During a faily long period after the World War II, Japan has carried out a national strategy of “one center, two basic points”. The center is to turn itself into a “big economic power”, while the two basic points refer to “Japan-US alliance” and “peaceful constitution”. Entering the 1990s, the priority in economy was gradually replaced by the strategic aim of becoming a “political power”. As a result, the Japan-US relationship was put onto the agenda of Japanese foreign policies. To implement its new national strategy, Japan took several dangerous steps: In April 1996, the US-Japan Joint Declaration on Security was signed, redefining the “alliance” at a strategic level; in September 1997, military institutions of the two countries issued revised Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation (hereinafter referred to as “New Defense Guidelines”), determining its
