Illustration: Liu Rui/GT
Recently some observers said that it is impossible for Japan to resume militarism. While there is some truth in the view, I don't think the case is made.
Present-day militarism in Japan appears in a form different from during WWII, and the national mobilization that happened when Japan invaded China and waged the Pacific War won't occur in Japan again.
However, we have to be highly alert that despite the change of forms, Japan's ideas and actions remain militarist. We need to prevent them from turning into another type of militarism when international pressure and constraints are absent.
A case in point is the "active pacifism" that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vigorously advocated.
Keeping a friendly relationship between China and Japan used to be the mainstream thanks to the efforts of then Chinese leaders like Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. At that time a group of visionary Japanese politicians also felt ashamed of Japan's atrocities.
But the situation has changed. As a result of Japanese government's provocative publicity, the favorable impressions of China by the Japanese public have deteriorated sharply and some Japanese are anxious about China's rise.
Under this circumstance, conditions are getting ready to form a hotbed for Japan's revival of militarism.
The Abe administration is leading the country toward a right-wing path, which coincides with the conservative and rightist tendency in society.
Take Taiwan as an example. Separatism used to be not influential in Taiwan. But after pro-independence Chen Shui-bian governed the region for two terms, over half of the people in Taiwan turned pro-independence. Given this instance, it's not safe to say that Japan won't resume militarism.
Moreover, is there a case recorded where democracy prevented or stopped a war? Adolf Hitler, who started WWII, was publicly elected as president of Germany. After the September 11 attacks, then US president George W. Bush held that Iraq was behind the deadly attacks and held weapons of mass destruction, and waged the Iraq War. The US democracy and people didn't stop Bush then.
History shows that democracy has always been played by Western countries in whatever way they want.
Indeed it is impossible for Japan to resume the pre-WWII militarism that was based on national mobilization and war economy. But it's a fact that the country is tilting toward militarism.
Besides a global economic power, Japan wants to be a political and military power that matches its economic status. It reinterpreted its constitution to allow the exercise of rights to collective self-defense and lifted a ban on its troops fighting overseas to participate in international military affairs. Given its strengths in economy and technology, Japan already has the financial and military prerequisites to launch a regional militarist war in the modern era.
I couldn't agree more that the growth in China's military strength makes it impossible for Japan to revive militarism. One important reason why China is building its military strength is that it wants to restrain Japan's attempts to rejuvenate militarism. In the meantime, the rest of the world also needs to be highly vigilant of the potential trend in Japan.
The author is a former deputy commander of the Nanjing military region. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn
