The LDP and Komeito government kneel to China by always appointing a pro-China Komeito member as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism with jurisdiction over the Senkaku Islands and the Coast Guard,
The following is from an article that appeared online in the Japanese edition of Newsweek magazine, which I discovered while searching for the previous chapter.
October 7, 2021.
China Rejoices at "Minister of State from the Komeito Party"--"Senkaku Issue Is Safe and Sound
Homare Endo, Director of the Global Institute for Chinese Studies
The LDP and the Komeito administration have been kneeling to China and reassuring China by ensuring that a pro-China Komeito lawmaker is appointed as the Minister of State for Diplomacy with jurisdiction over the Senkakus and the Coast Guard.
Even if the Kishida cabinet pretends to be hard-line toward China, as long as the Minister of State for Diplomacy is a member of the Komeito party, its friendly stance toward China will not change.
The Senkaku Issue Became a Rampage during the Democratic Party of Japan's Administration
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) was established in 2001, and jurisdiction over the Senkaku Islands and the Japan Coast Guard (Coast Guard) was placed under MLIT.
Since the establishment of MLIT, there had been no significant problems with the Senkaku Islands until September 2009, when the (then) Democratic Party of Japan came to power.
On September 7, 2010, the year after the DPJ came to power, the Senkaku Islands fishing boat collision occurred, and massive anti-Japanese demonstrations were held throughout China.
In Japan, on February 2, 2010, the "Go, Japan! National Action Committee Formation Convention," which was formed by Toshio Tamogami, So Mizushima, and others, staged an anti-China demonstration on February 2 2010.
Below, I have prepared a timeline of the "Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism and the Senkaku Islands Issue," which I will discuss as you look at it.
Chart: Timeline on "Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Senkaku Islands Issue
https://img-newsweekjapan.jp/stories/2021/10/07/endo20211007211101.jpg
On April 17, 2012, (former) Tokyo Governor Ishihara stunned the world by suddenly stating in a speech in Washington, D.C., where he was visiting, that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to purchase the Senkaku Islands with the consent of their owners. In response, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Noda administration, then under the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), announced that "there is a possibility that the national government (not the Tokyo Metropolitan Government) will purchase the Senkaku Islands if necessary." Prime Minister Noda stated at the April 18 Lower House Budget Committee that he would "consider every possible way to nationalize" the islands.
It sparked violent protests from the Chinese government as a diplomatic issue. On August 15, a Hong Kong activist landed on the Senkakus and was arrested by the Japanese government, which led to large-scale demonstrations in various parts of China from August 19.
Against this backdrop, on September 11, the Japanese government purchased the three Senkaku Islands (Uotsuri, Kita Kojima, and Minami Kojima), previously privately owned, for 2.05 billion yen, and "nationalization" of the islands was officially decided.
The intensity of the following anti-Japanese demonstrations is still fresh in our minds.
In November of the same year, Xi Jinping (then still Vice President of China) was to be elected General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. President of the Central Military Commission at the 18th Party Congress, but Tiananmen Square was overflowing with demonstrators to the extent that the party congress was in danger of not being held.
President Hu Jintao, at the time, forcefully suppressed the demonstrations, claiming that they had begun to turn "anti-government," and managed to hold the Party Congress. Still, China instead dispatched many Chinese ships into the Senkaku Islands' contiguous waters and Senkaku territorial waters. It was the only way to silence the young people participating in the anti-Japanese demonstrations.
Meanwhile, a change of government took place in Japan, and a coalition government of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Public Sector was formed.
China, "Now that a pro-China Komeito member is the minister of state, we can rest easy."
On December 24, 2012, Shinzo Abe was elected prime minister, and his cabinet formation was announced on December 26. On December 24 or 25, the day before the announcement, China simultaneously reported with "joy" that Akihiro Ota of the New Komeito Party would be nominated as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, under the headline "Abe seems to be appointing a pro-China politician to his cabinet, perhaps to ease the situation of the Diaoyu Islands issue (Senkaku issue).
People's Net, the electronic version of the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, and Huanqiu Net, the electronic version of the Huanqiu Times, an affiliate of the People's Daily, as well as the central television station CCTV, also picked up the story during news time.
China's claims are generally as follows.
─ According to Japanese media, LDP President Shinzo Abe has informally decided to nominate Akihiro Ota, former leader of the New Komeito party, which forms a coalition with the LDP, as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism in the new cabinet to be created on March 26. Since Akihiro Ota is a pro-China politician, and since the position of Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism is in charge of the Japan Coast Guard, this can be positioned as a measure to ease Japan-China relations, which have deteriorated due to the Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku Islands) dispute. With this, the Abe administration probably intends to step up (preliminary) discussions with China.
As expected, it does not clearly state this, but it is as if to say, "Now China is no longer at ease concerning the Senkaku issue."
Since Komeito became Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, "Japan will not resist."
To China's delight, Kōmeitō members have continued to serve as Ministers of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism under the coalition government of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.
Please refer to the chart again.
Since 2012, no one other than Kōmeitō members has been appointed Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, as if it is a matter of course that Kōmeitō members are to be appointed Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism.
Therefore, as you can see in the rightmost two columns of the chart, no matter how much the monthly average number of Chinese vessels entering the Senkaku Islands' contiguous waters and the number of ships trespassing in the area increases, the Japanese government has never taken any concrete action as a nation to stop them except to express its "regret."
Of course, the Coast Guard may be desperate and want to move boldly, but without a directive from the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, the Coast Guard cannot do more than that.
The LDP can find an excuse to respond ineffectually and ineptly, considering China, saying, "It can't be helped because the minister of the Komeito party, with which the LDP is in the coalition, says so.
For this reason, they go out of their way to defend themselves by appointing a Komeito lawmaker as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism.
For China, there is no other cabinet so happy.
The Magnitsky Act, which allows for sanctions on the Uyghur issue, could not be passed because it was opposed not only by former Secretary-General Nikai but also, of all people, by the New Komeito Party.
China does not want to be replaced by an opposition party.
But what kind of cabinet would be "welcomed and appreciated by China"?
Is it in the best interest of the Japanese people?
The answer should be obvious to anyone.
China's illegal acts of trespassing in the territorial waters and territorial waters of the Senkaku Islands have become the norm.
Yet, Japan cannot actually do anything about China, Japan's largest trading partner.
The Kishida cabinet seems to be making only hard-line statements against China and appointing new ministers to implement hard-line measures against China. Still, as long as Komeito is in the position of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, we fear that, unfortunately, the Kishida cabinet's friendly stance toward China will not change.
*This article is reprinted from Yahoo! News Personal.
Author Endo Homare
Director, Global Research Institute for Chinese Studies; Professor Emeritus, University of Tsukuba; Doctor of Science
She was born in China in 1941 and returned to Japan in 1953 after experiencing the Chinese Revolutionary War. Director of the Global Research Institute for Chinese Studies. D., Professor Emeritus, University of Tsukuba, She has been a visiting researcher and professor at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Author of "Betrayal and Intrigue in the 100th Year of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party: The secret history of Xi Jinping, revenge against Deng Xiaoping who ruined his father" (Business, published March 22), "Post-Corona US-China Hegemony and the digital renminbi" and "Clash! Endo vs. Tahara: Nichi-China to Xi Jinping Guojin", "Behind the U.S.-China Trade War: Deciphering Tectonic Shifts in East Asia," "The Impact of 'China Manufacturing 2025': What is Xi Jinping Planning Now", "Mao Zedong: The Man Who Conspired with the Japanese Army," "The Child Who Remained in China: The Aftermath of China's Founding. "Net Superpower China: The Battle Over Discourse,"
"When China Connects with Silicon Valley" and many others.
