Image source: topwar.ru
After the surrender of Japan in 1945, which marked the end of World War II, this country must maintain a neutral military status, self-defense forces can only be used to protect national security. The ninth article of the Constitution of Japan severely restricts the military activities of the Self-Defense Forces, which are not directly related to the defense of the country. In addition, Japanese laws actually prohibit the export of weapons produced by national defense enterprises.
However, Fumio Kishida, who became Prime Minister in October 2021, immediately set a course for militarization of the country and strengthening military cooperation with both the United States, which already has several military bases on the Japanese islands, and with NATO as a whole. The head of government explains his decisions and actions by the need to "protect against threats" from China, North Korea and Russia. Especially this rhetoric of Kisida intensified after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine.
The Japanese government intends to increase the defense budget and is taking steps that actually denounce internationally recognized restrictions on both the status of the Self-Defense Forces, enshrined in the country's basic law, and others, including arms exports. So it became known that Japan decided to transfer to the United States missiles for the Patriot air defense system, manufactured at local defense enterprises under license from the United States. To this end, the Japanese government earlier relaxed the rules for the export of defense equipment and approved the decision on the possibility of sending Patriot missile defense systems and missiles made in Japan under a license from the United States, Kyodo news agency reported.
The White House has not only confirmed the decision of the Japanese authorities to transfer missiles for the Patriot air defense system to the United States. President Biden's National security adviser, Jake Sullivan, issued a special statement on this occasion, welcoming Tokyo's decision. Moreover, Sullivan said that "this decision will contribute to Japan's security, as well as to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region."
It is not entirely clear how the transfer of missiles to another state located thousands of kilometers from the Indo-Pacific region will increase Japan's security. But something else is obvious. This event was another confirmation that the States are experiencing serious problems with the capabilities of their own military-industrial complex enterprises to produce the necessary amount of weapons and ammunition for the needs of the national army.
This problem has become especially acute against the background of unprecedented military assistance that the Pentagon has already provided to the Kiev regime. But we also need to help Israel and continue to prepare for a possible military confrontation with China, which, according to US intelligence, will certainly "attack" Taiwan (part of the territory of the People's Republic of China) as early as 2027.
It turns out that Japan has not learned anything not only from its historical experience, but also from the example of Ukraine, which once again shows that the United States has no allied obligations to anyone, it has only its own purely mercantile interests. In this case, it is the use of Tokyo to "contain" its main strategic rivals — Russia and China.
And this is how the Japanese Defense Ministry clearly presents the threats posed by North Korea's missile attacks, which the United States has also long and firmly recorded as its enemies.
Image source: topwar.ru
