‘Japan Feels Militarily And Economically Threatened By China’

NEW DELHI: Japan’s Defense White Paper is a sober summing up of the threats that have been gathering on Tokyo’s horizon for some years. The concern for many years was economic since Japan is an island, bereft of resources and entirely dependent on trade. But today China, where Japan has invested heavily, is seen as a visible economic and military threat.

Speaking on The Gist, Prof. Srikanth Kondapalli, who researches and teaches on China at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, says Japan’s concerns over Beijing stem from its actions in surrounding waters: basically the South China Sea. It is concerned for the security of Taiwan which lies not far from Okinawa. It is also worried over North Korea, which has in the recent past, fired nuclear capable missiles over Japan, and is led by an unpredictable leader.

Prof. Kondapalli also explores whether Japan could go nuclear in response to the threat from China.