 |
| Surrender of Japan, 1945 |
Participation
in the balance of power is rather typical approach for the U.S. foreign
policy in different historic periods as well as regions around the
world. Asia-Pacific is not exclusion in the American strategy. After World War II, the U.S. policy
towards East Asia had some clear goals such as preventing regional domination
by a local power, keeping open the area for U.S. trade and investment, as well
as dissemination of democratic governance, to ensure stability in the Far East.
When in the late 19th century the
emerging power Japan conducted invasions in Korea and China, the U.S. reaction
was breaking relations with Tokyo. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
during World War II, America allied with China to defeat the imperial forces.
After the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, the U.S. relations with Japan
and China began to develop in opposite way so the main goal of the American
policy in East Asia remained unchanged. On the one hand the U.S. succeeded to
suppress the Japanese militarism and force it to abandon the aggressive
behavior on the international arena, on the other hand, the U.S. became the
necessary regional ally to balance against the Soviet Union and Communist
China.
For the purposes of this kind of
American policy in the Far East John F. Dulles, adviser to then-Secretary of
State Dean Acheson, developed the so-called San Francisco System. This system
creates a complex network of political, military and economic bilateral commitments
between the U.S. and its allies of postwar East Asia with the goal to ensure
its presence and to contain the communist invasion in the area. This mutually binding initiative commenced in 1950-1951, when the peace
treaty of San Francisco was signed. Through this system of contracts, the U.S.
provided sufficient economic opportunities and security guarantees needed to
place the participants in the American security strategy.
Among all American allies in the
region, the most important one is, of course, Japan. The American occupation of
Japan disbanded the Japanese army and imposed the well-known Article 9 of the
Japanese Constitution from 1947, according to which Japan denounces war as an
instrument for foreign policy and vows it will never use force to invade other
countries. The conclusion of the San Francisco peace treaty puts an end to the
American occupation of Japan in 1951. Both countries signed a “Treaty of Mutual
Cooperation and Security”, thus placing Japan under the protection of US conventional
and nuclear capabilities.
Article 9 of the Japanese
Constitution:
“
|
ARTICLE 9. (1) Aspiring sincerely to
an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people
forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use
of force as means of settling international disputes.
(2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized. |
”
|
In its effort to withhold Japan under
its guardianship, the United States provided significant economic opportunities
for Tokyo. U.S. managed to defend its position that Japan should not pay
reparations, while providing financial assistance worth 2.1 billion dollars
during the seven-year occupation. America opened its market fully and duty-free
for Japanese goods, and simultaneously encouraged protectionism by Japan on
imported goods. Through this mutual interdependence, the U.S. turned itself
into a major partner of Japan in every aspect.
This institutional tying reinforced
Japanese-American alliance. In subsequent years of the Cold War, Japan closely
follows the US on its policy towards China and the region. For example Japan
signed a peace treaty with Taiwan and continues not to recognize the People's
Republic of China until 1972. Japan also takes part in the economic embargo
imposed on China by American and other Western countries after the War.
A strong characteristic of the Peace
of San Francisco is that it fails to settle territorial disputes over the Kuril
Islands between Japan and the USSR, over the Takeshima islands with Korea and
over the Senkaku islands between Japan and China.
However, Article 2 from the
contract does not oblige Japan to return Taiwan to China, but agreed to a
Japanese withdrawal from Taiwan. The big purpose of the contract is not to
solve territorial disputes, but to give priority and advantage to Japan over
other Asian countries. The disputes concerning Senkaku Islands and Taiwan will
later become major contradictions in the relations between Japan and China.
 |
| Disputed islands between Japan and South Korea |
Despite the fact that more than 70
years have passed since the end of World War II, Chinese-Japanese bilateral
relations continue to be under the shadow of history, as various events
continue to bring further tensions in the relationship. For example, we may
point out some of the Chinese objections over some ambiguous statements by
Japanese officials, a lack of direct apology from the Japanese side, a change
in history textbooks in Japan in the 80’s, and failure to recognize the events
in Nanjing in 1937.
United States had a tremendous
influence on the Japanese attitude towards the historical issue. In order to
resist to communism, the U.S. restructured the Japanese economy and law system
so that it can provide a controlled retrieval of the status of world power. The
then-Prime Minister of Japan Shigeru Yoshida stated his desire to build a new,
democratic, capitalist and pro-American country. In this way the U.S. imposed
suppression on the Japanese militarism and interpretation of the historical
facts was made suitable for its political purposes.
The change of the American policy
towards Japan after the War has lead to a series of further steps, that had influenced its attitude regarding the historical problem until present days.
 |
| Emperor Hirohito |
In the Tokyo war crimes trial in 1946,
the Japanese Emperor Hirohito was released from any responsibility, because his
status was of extreme importance for the social stability of Japan. The United
States controlled the trial and despite the insistence of the other victors of
the War the emperor to be accused, the US diplomacy prevented this from
happening, and the Emperor did not even had to testify at the trial. Moreover,
the tribunal has officially pronounced the innocence of the Emperor.
Among the Japanese military who had
been accused, relatively few have been blamed for war crimes. The USA
eliminated from the Japanese social life a very small percentage of the
Japanese militarists. Many political leaders and bureaucrats maintained the
positions they occupied before the War. An example is Nobusuke Kishi, who from
accused and then released in 1948, was elected as prime minister in the period
1957-1960.
The American postwar policy toward
Japan has a lasting influence on the Chinese-Japanese historical dispute.
Despite current efforts of both sides to clarify the historical issues in order
to have a broader economic and political cohesion, this problem will continue
to interfere with their relationship, at least for the near future.
No comments:
Post a Comment