There is a time and a place. Just because you have a right to do something doesn’t mean you should exercise it. The United States and its allies keep claiming they have the right of navigation in international waters by sending their navies through the Taiwan Strait. Their intention to provoke is clear despite their justification under international law.
One escalation may be considered an accident. Two is a deliberate choice. But why? Japan is rapidly rebuilding its defence industry and reviving militarism that has long lurked under the surface. To justify their revival, it must provoke the Chinese and make them look like the aggressive, unreasonable party.
Eight decades after the US imposed a pacifist constitution on a defeated imperial Japan, Takaichi is working to restore her country as a military power in the region. Given its wartime records, it’s hard not to be suspicious about where all this will lead.
Japan can now sell arms to other countries for the first time since the second world war. Previously, military sales were restricted to non-lethal equipment for rescue, transport, surveillance and minesweeping.
