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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Jane's: Japan to attend Cobra Gold 2005 | |
| 2005-03-04 | |
| Members of Japan's ground forces reportedly will participate in an international joint military exercise for the first time -- a move that signals a further shift towards a more assertive role in the region for an important U.S. ally. Jane's Defense Weekly reported in its Friday edition that Japan's Ground Self Defense Forces (GSDF), or army, will send a small number of personnel to take part in the Cobra Gold 2005 exercise, to be held in Thailand in May. According to the U.S. Pacific Command, the annual exercise involving U.S. and Thai forces is the premier multilateral exercise in the Pacific. Singapore will also take part in this year's two-week event. Cobra Gold focuses on such areas as humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations, evacuation operations, and transnational threats such as terrorism and illicit narcotics. In the aftermath of the tsunami, which caused havoc in Thailand and a number of other countries in the Indian Ocean region, the 2005 will emphasize disaster relief. Japan does not officially have a military, and its Self Defense Forces' activities are tightly restricted by the country's war-renouncing constitution, drafted by the U.S. after Japan's defeat in World War II. To the unease of neighbors which bore the brunt of Imperial Japanese aggression last century, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government has been edging towards a more meaningful security role in the region and beyond.
The new defense policy paper upset Beijing by identifying China and its military buildup, for the first time, as posing a regional risk. In the months since, Japan was further annoyed China by agreeing to cooperate in U.S. ballistic missile defense initiatives which China opposes, and by issuing a joint statement with the U.S. - again for the first time - that referred to the China-Taiwan dispute. Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a rebel province, slammed what it called interference in its domestic affairs. Jane's said Japan's involvement in Cobra Gold, while small by comparison to Thailand's 2,655 participants and 3,614 personnel from the U.S., was important symbolically. "The initiative reinforces Japan's switch to a willingness to utilize the SDF internationally as, outlined in its new defense policy paper." Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) wants to revise the pacifist constitution by November, to coincide with the party's 50th anniversary. The prime minister hopes the changes will allow the SDF to play a bigger role in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations abroad. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #9 Thailand was allied with Japan in WW2. It wasn't punished after the war becuase of US hostility to European recolonization in Asia. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-03-04 6:35:57 PM |
| #8 Good question, LH. Here's an easily-absorbed recap. Essentially, the Thais had the unenviable position of being the mouse stuck underfoot while the lions fought it out. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2005-03-04 5:24:42 PM |
| #7 werent the Thais more or less on their side in WW2, at least to the point of offering free passage, albeit after being pressured? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-03-04 3:08:35 PM |
| #6 I agree with both Carl and Shipman. In a certain sense the Japanese have been the second luckiest people in the world (to the Americans, of course). The only third world country to successfully transition to the first world. Then catapaulted through the twentieth century as a result of their only defeat at the hands of the benign Americans. How they handle this will tell a lot about how much they've learned from us in the last 50 years about benign hegemony and whether or not they can be the dominant East Asian power for nearly the indefinite future. While there is a lot of hand wringing about Chjina becoming a superpower, that is hyperventilation. The danger of China in 2020 is like that of Germany in 1914, seeing that its power has peaked it decides to strike out befor it starts to wane. If Japan plays its cards correctly between now and then, It could be in an excellent position to remain the dominant power for a long time to come. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-03-04 12:09:49 PM |
| #5 Is this the exercise that France was not invited to last year? If yes, have they been invited this year? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-03-04 12:02:51 PM |
| #4 Actually, Shipman, I wuold not be surprised at all to see the Japanese do exactly as Mrs D. said, or some similar gesture. They have apologized for WWII to countries in the region. (IIRC, several times to China). Whether China, Korea, etc accept the apology is of course a different issue.... |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2005-03-04 11:52:54 AM |
| #3 To the unease of neighbors which bore the brunt of Imperial Japanese aggression last century, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government has been edging towards a more meaningful security role in the region and beyond. Y'all can thank Kimmy Jong for that. Carry on... |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-04 10:40:37 AM |
| #2 That's not their way. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-03-04 10:21:25 AM |
| #1 If the Japanese were smart, they'd make a big deal about expressing regret to the Thais for WWII in a public ceremony at the Thai Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or similar memorial. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-03-04 9:38:43 AM |