Skepticism from Down Under

In the quasi-containment policy against China, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sees Australia as a cornerstone to restrict Chinese promotion toward Pacific Ocean. Simply because the land down under is geographically located in Southern periphery of the containment posture, he realizes the significance of the nation to be included in his side. That is why he approaches Australia as a close friend with shared values. As a result, he ignores the fact that Australia is looking closely at both Japan and China.

Australia was a country Abe chose for one of the first foreign countries to visit after reinterpretation of the Constitution to exercise collective self-defense in early July. He made a speech in the Parliament House in Canberra for the first time as Japanese Prime Minister. We want to make Japan a country that will work to build an international order that upholds the rule of law. Our desire is to make Japan a country that is all the more willing to contribute to peace in the region and beyond. It is for this reason that Japan has raised the banner of ‘Proactive Contribution to Peace,’” told Abe. It was unclear whether the Australians might have found a sense of expansionism in his words.

Responses to his speech were not only enthusiastic applauses as conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott sent. While Abe praised bilateral effort to establish a cooperative framework in the region, or Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, by Prime Ministers Masayoshi Ohira and Malcolm Fraser, Fraser deliberately criticized Abe just the day after he made the speech.

Fraser said that Abe was “the second head of government who’s made a speech that should only have been made from his own soil.” “The first was President Obama,” he elaborated, “when he made a speech that should only have been made form American soil.” In his current book titled “Dangerous Allies,” he warns the Australians about disadvantage of alliance with the United States and its satellites including Japan. His criticism is based on a notion that Asia-Pacific nations need to offer China space for their activities in the region.

This clearly showed negative aspect of Japan to seek closer ties with U.S. The closer Japan approaches to U.S., the more countries take distance from Japan in the world where skepticism on U.S. hegemony is spreading. For Australia, China is the biggest partner both for its exports and imports. The best scenario for the Australians is all parties are peacefully achieving prosperity. They have no reason to contain China. Unfortunately, the head of Japan cannot, or will not, understand that truth.

Supporting Southeast Asian Partners

Japanese Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida, agreed with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Pham Binh Minh, on providing with six vessels available for patrol boats at their meeting in Hanoi on Friday. Vietnam would use them for enhancing security against China. Japan is backing any country up, which may stand against the Asian Dragon. This is what “positive pacifism” of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is about.

Both foreign ministers made choral statements criticizing China of its assertive action in South and East China Sea. “Rule of law is indispensable for maritime peace and stability,” told Kishida. “Action that complicates situation should be refrained,” Pham followed Kishida. When China started drilling oil cell with one hundred ships around Paracel Islands on May, Vietnam had to face them with only thirty old ships. To meet the demand to enhance maritime security, Japan decided to support Vietnam’s effort.

As a pacifist nation, the government of Japan has been refraining from supporting military capability of other country as acts of overseas development aid. To meet that Japan’s demand, Vietnam separated the organization of marine police from military. Six vessels will be affiliated to that marine police. Not satisfied with this kind of support to other nations, Abe administration is reviewing guidelines for overseas development aid to make military supports possible.

Japan’s other targets for cooperation in Southeast Asia is Indonesia and Philippine. To Indonesia, Japan provided three new patrol vessels in 2007. Abe agreed with President of Philippine, Benigno Aquino, in providing with ten patrol vessels to Philippine. Philippine has dispute over sovereignty on Scarborough Shoal. Purpose of Japan to support those countries is obvious to every nation.

It is unclear whether such Japan’s efforts will work as deterrence against China. Most countries in Southeast Asia are economically dependent on China. Some countries are reluctant to support Japan’s military rebuilding, not to cause uneasy relationship with China. “Positive pacifism” of Abe sounds like containment for Southeast Asian nations.

If Japan keeps on supporting maritime stability in the region, it needs to generalize its effort. Explanation that it does not mean containing China is necessary to justify Japan’s own effort. However, Abe never says that he does not take containment policy against China, while others including United States always do. For that revisionist leader, appeasement may mean an intolerable defeat.

Panel Urged Indictment

The Fifth Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution, a judicial panel for reviewing decision of the prosecutors offices, on Thursday recommended that the executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company should be charged for the crime of causing the great disaster in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. The panel indicated that they could predict the disaster happening in a time of a great earthquake and did make no action for that. Although Tokyo Regional Prosecutors Office once determined they were not guilty, skepticisms among the public overturned that conclusion.

Two years ago, over five thousand residents in Fukushima, mostly suffered from the accident in First Fukushima, indicted thirty-three people, whom they recognized to have been responsible for the accident, including six board members of TEPCO. Tokyo Prosecutors Office dismissed that with a reason of unpredictability of disaster in highly unusual magnitude.

The judicial panel opposed that conclusion. “It is hard to predict when and where earthquake or tsunami will happen. So, it is necessary to take measures based on a notion that the unpredictable happens,” said the panel. The panel revealed that TEPCO had known the possibility of major tsunami, with the height of fourteen meters, there years before the accident in 2011.

The panel targeted three members at the top in the management of TEPCO, former Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, former Vice-President Sakae Muto and another former Vice-President Ichiro Tekekuro. Although they had been denying their recognition of possibility for nuclear disaster, the common sense of ordinary people is leadership of electric power company cannot be innocent about possibility of severe accident.

It is fair to say that the panel represented public frustration against hesitative attitude of prosecutors. As long as no crime is determined, the historically great nuclear disaster, which produced one hundred and sixty thousand evacuees, must become a natural disaster. But, common notion on it has been “man-made disaster,” as Congressional Investigation Panel concluded.

Fukushima residents also indicted some politicians, including then Prime Minister Naoto Kan. It has been said that Kan and other leaders of his administration mishandled early responses after the great earthquake occurred. In the situation that a number of people still living days far from comfort, stability and happiness, it is unacceptable for them to see the leaders of politics and energy business go through without any sense of responsibility.

Observer of Political Battle in China

Reports of newspapers on the decision of Chinese Communist Party to launch an investigation on corruption related to a former domestic security chief, Zhou Yongkang, provided the readers with impression that something was happening inside Chinese leadership. They realized that Zhou would be the most senior official to be accused of graft scandal. However, nobody in Japan has accurately explained how that power struggle would affect China’s attitude to Japan.

As a member of Politburo Standing Committee, Zhou exercised his political power with support of former President, Jiang Zemin. Not only as a top leader in domestic security, Zhou represented the interest of government-owned petroleum companies. Although the party only said that Zhou was suspected “serious disciplinary violations,” some sources indicated his illegal request to the petroleum companies of favor to some enterprises run by his family or relatives.

Reports focused on how the case should be unusual in Chinese politics. It has been a secret agreement in Chinese politics that the leader would not arrest member of Politburo, because its political impact must be too great. Under slogan of knocking down corruption “regardless flies or tigers,” Xi Jinping has been active in investigating political scandals. It was obviously a demonstration to appeal the public that had deeply been frustrated concentration of wealth on privileged leaders. One thing is clear: Xi solidified his political basis.

Xi was careful enough in hedging backlashes from old aged leaders. Reuters reported that Xi achieved admissions from former Presidents, Jiang and Hu Jintao, on accusing Zhou. The deal was reportedly promising no further accusation of higher-ranked leaders. By the downfall of Zhou, influence of the conservatives will inevitably be weakened.

Those are what the Japanese can understand about the scandal so far. The greatest question for them is how Xi’s political maneuver affects China’s foreign policy, namely assertive promotion in South and East China Sea. While Xi looks likely to take further assertive attitude in territorial issue to appeal to nationalistic public, it can be said that he may have more options between hard line and softer deal.

The problem is no one in Shinzo Abe administration seems to have gotten necessary information inside China. Under mostly anti-China leadership, Japan is desperately in need of connection with Chinese administration. As if ignoring development in a neighbor country, Prime Minister Abe enjoys travel in Middle and South America. Ability of diplomats is limited. Dialogue between top leaders is definitely important.

Kids in Poverty

The Japanese love the words “developed country.” Most Japanese firmly believe that they are living in a developed country, in which life is easy in pursuit of happiness and free from poverty. However, a governmental research revealed one Japanese child out of six is in poverty, marking the worst level ever. One of the biggest reasons is the social system, in which the poor do not have an opportunity to be better.

According to the report of Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 16.3% of children of eighteen years old or younger were categorized in poverty, which meant their yearly family income was ¥1.22 million or less. That was the tenth in the worst among developed countries club, or Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It is an embarrassing result as a self-confident developed nation.

Reportage on Yomiuri Shimbun on Wednesday was heartbreaking. A twelve-year-old girl was waiting for her mother coming back home from work on Christmas Eve last year. Footsteps stopped in front of her room and she heard sound of closing a valve for water supply, because the family could not pay for public utility fee. When she and her mother went to a park to fill bottles with water, a neighbor cried “Don’t you take it.” She had a rice ball with a glass of water for the dinner.

The girl lives with only her mother, whose monthly income is a hundred thousand yen. The mother’s job is helping nursery for old people, but the job status is far from stability. Because the girl sometimes hurt herself with a fear of loneliness, her mother needed to be with her as long as possible. Due to insufficiency of food, the girl caught cold every month. “I always think I’m hopeless,” the girl accuses herself. This is a vicious cycle of Japanese poverty.

The government is making effort to make a guideline dealing with kids’ poverty. It will set a goal in twelve categories, including ratio of going to high school and getting stable job. Support for education, ordinary life, job for parents and family finance will be targets for policy relieves. Early education for free, cooperation between government and non-governmental organization and non-reimbursement scholarship are something in their minds.

But fundamental reason is built in social structure, which has been stemming from policies dividing the rich and poor. Neo-liberal economic policy taken by former Prime Minister, Jun-ichiro Koizumi, would be guilty for this situation of kids’ poverty. Those policies could be applied to a geographically broad country. But in a narrow country such as Japan, poverty cannot live in itself and even harms everyone, for example through crimes.

Wanted to Kill Someone

Motivation was simpler than in a case in San Diego 1979, in which the assaulter told the reason as “I don’t like Mondays.” Local police of Nagasaki prefecture arrested sixteen-year-old high school girl with a suspicion of murder in Sasebo city. She admitted that she had beaten and choked her close friend to death and told that her motivation was “I wanted to kill someone.” Unclear whether or not silicon chip in her head got switched to overload, anybody could see no reason.

The girl killed her friend in her room at Saturday night, and victim’s body was cut apart at head and left wrist. There were other scars at where the murderer tried to cut down. When police found the body in the room, the victim was laid down on a bed and some tools were around it. The victim had told her parents to visit the room a week before, and planned to get back home around seven. Her parents asked police to search her around eleven and it was past three when policemen broke into the room.

Those girls had been friends each other from the time of mid-school. Their high school teachers did not realized any trouble between them. The suspect has shown no regret on her murder. Some told her character as easy to be excited. She caused a trouble in her sixth grade when she infused breach and chemicals in lunch dishes of the classmates, because she was frustrated with her teacher.

She lost her mother last October and her father was married another woman afterward. The suspect showed to one of her friends that she wondered whether her father was thinking nothing about late mother. She was living alone in a room of apartment house, where the murder happened, after her father’s marriage. She attended her class only three days in the first semester.

In Sasebo city, there was another murder between classmates of the sixth grade ten years ago. The educational community has been working hard in teaching preciousness of a life to students. The Board of Education of the city was disappointed with the same thing happened. Looking at things appeared so far, nobody except the murderer was responsible for the case.

It is clear that human lives got lighter than ever in Japanese society. After former Prime Minister, Jun-ichiro Koizumi, introduced the policy to divide the society between the haves and have-nots, there appeared growing number of people who killed themselves. The weak cannot have hope for their future in this society lacking sense of equal opportunity. The strong defeats the weak forever. If a desire to kill people had a reason, that should be a protest against merciless society many adults created. It is not about education, divorce or friendship, but apathetic crime against humanity as Hannah Arendt indicated.

Conservative Division of Okinawa

Coming gubernatorial election in Okinawa, expected to be on November 16^th, will be a referendum on relocation of Futenma Air Base of United States Marine Corps. After incumbent governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, decided to allow landfill construction at Henoko Coast, where the base would be settled, broad protests against him wrapped Okinawa islands. Nevertheless, Nakaima became the first candidate who stepped forward for next election. It is likely that the election will show deep division among the people in Okinawa.

Taking a form of accepting demand from local organization of Liberal Democratic Party, Nakaima officially announced his intention to run for the governor for his third term. “I believe the relocation plan is the best choice with shortest time for settling the problem of the world most dangerous base of Futenma. I will put the period on it as soon as possible,” told Nakaima to the party leaders in Okinawa. That naturally became his campaign promise.

At the time he accepted starting landfill construction, he was supposed not to run for next election. But after Mayor of Naha, Takeshi Onaga, revealed his willingness to run for governor with opposition against Henoko relocation plan, Nakaima changed his attitude to be positive for running. Onaga, having been the leader of Nakaima campaign office four years ago, was one of the most reliable colleagues in the conservatives in Okinawa for Nakaima. Nakaima found a threat in Onaga’s move, which might be overturning his decision.

In spite of local LDP’s support to Nakaima, Onaga is still looking to run for governor even with support from the Communists and the Social Democrats in Okinawa. Calculating the situation that most of all the people in Okinawa, including conservative Liberal Democrats, have been against Henoko plan, Onaga is expecting to integrate voters against Nakaima. But there is another move on the opposition side of raising another candidate, former lawmaker with LDP and later New National Party, Mikio Shimoji. Democratic Party of Japan has still not decided what to do as it has always been.

This is a big headache for the headquarters of LDP in Tokyo, because coalition partner, New Komeito, has been showing supportive action for Onaga. If Komeito supports Onaga in the election, difference from LDP becomes apparent, causing further decline in supporting rate of the party and Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. As well as the election for the governor of Fukushima, local election this fall may mark watershed of the administration.