National Security. We can not allow the element of surprise.
Japan’s Threat Scenario’s Covered in NDPO:
The NDPO stresses that Japan must be prepared to meet the following scenarios:
* Ballistic missile attacks.
* Terrorists attacks
* Invasion of Japanese remote islands.
* Intrusion into Japanese waters by armed naval vessels.
* Large scale disasters.
Actions Taken
That the Chinese threat perception weighs heavily on Japan can be seen by the following manifestations:
* Japan is engaged in a Southward shift of its armed forces form the North.
* Japan is upgrading airbases on islands in proximity of Senkakus and Taiwan e.g. Shimoji Shima Island.
* Japan is doubling its air-refueling capabilities for its extended Southern coverage.
* Japan is doubling its air transport fleet.
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Japan’s Revised Threat Perceptions:
During the Cold War, Japan’s threat perceptions focused on the former Soviet Union. In line with this Japanese defense postures focused on the
military build up of the Northern Island of Hokkaido as a main base for countering a possible Soviet threat, in terms of army and air force assets.
The Japanese Navy in conjunction with the US Navy was tasked for preventing the break-out of Soviet Naval forces from the Vladivostok area into the
Western Pacific.
In the post-Cold War era, Japan seemed to be diluting the Russian threat in a graduated manner and hinting that China was emerging as a major threat
in the region.
The new “National Defense Programme Outline 2004” (NDPO) reflects Japan’s changed security environment in the nine years that have elapsed since
the last NDPO was issued.
The new NDPO significantly revises Japan’s threat perceptions. In 2004 Japanese security calculus, China and North Korea emerge as significant
threats.
The China Threat Perception:
The ‘China threat perception’ of Japan can best be illustrated by quoting from a XINHUA news dispatch which stresses that:
* China along with North Korea have been singled out as a major threat.
* Japan for the first time has named certain countries as a major threat.
* Japan has now stressed that the modernization of Chinese armed forces need close scrutiny by Japan.
* Japan has further stressed that China is engaged in strengthening its military capabilities to deter USA’s military intervention in Taiwan
Straits.
* Japan also views Chinese military build-up as leading to China’s emergence as the greatest military power in the Asia Pacific in the
future.
In an earlier report, a Japanese 10 member advisory panel to Japanese Prime Minister on security issues had recommended that China be treated as a
major threat by Japan.
Japan’s threat perceptions from China arises from the possibility of the following conflictual scenarios:
* US-China armed conflict over the Taiwan issue. Japan’s security commitments with USA will draw it into this conflict.
* Japan’s disputes with China over territorial issues (Senkaku Island) and ocean resources.
* China may conduct illegal moves to secure its interests in the East China Sea.
Japanese threat perceptions get fuelled by Chinese nationalists landing on disputed Islands and the surreptious movements of Chinese submarines in
Japanese waters.
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SEOUL � North Korea threatened Thursday to turn Japan into a "nuclear sea of fire" if the United States attacks it with nuclear weapons, South
Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting a North Korean newspaper report.
Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of North Korea's Workers Party of Korea, said U.S. military bases in Japan would come under its attack in the event of a
nuclear war.
"If the United States ignites a nuclear war, the U.S. military bases in Japan would serve as a detonating fuse to turn Japan into a nuclear sea of
fire," the paper said in an article, according to Yonhap.
The threat comes as Japanese and U.S. reconnaissance information indicate that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire either a Rodong or a
Taepodong ballistic missile or conduct a missile engine combustion test, Japanese government sources said Thursday
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In a move described to give the North Koreans more time to explain the fate of Japanese abductees, Japan decided Friday to delay imposing economic
sanctions on North Korea. The DPRK recently warned Japan that it would consider any economic sanctions an act of war, and would physically retaliate.
South Korea has been opposed to sanctions, citing that they would set back the multilateral denuclearization talks with North Korea.
www.atsnn.com...
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Poor Japan. It's surprising that it doesn't glow in the dark yet.
-Jonna (ATS)