July 16, 2025

The Defense of Japan 2025, the Defense Ministry’s annual white paper, was discussed at a meeting of the Ishiba Cabinet on July 15. Explaining a basic view on national security, the white paper states that to conduct active diplomacy should come first. On the other hand, stating that diplomacy needs to be backed up by appropriate defense capability, the annual defense report again indicated that the drastic enhancement of Japan’s defense capabilities by such means as possessing “counterattack capabilities (enemy base attack capabilities)” should be promoted.

This stance is in line with the U.S. demand for military expansion which the U.S. government made based on its “peace through strength” doctrine. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in March at a joint press conference after meeting with his Japanese counterpart Nakatani Gen in Tokyo said that those who long for peace must prepare for war, demanding that Japan carry out a massive military buildup.

The Defense Ministry’s annual white paper, with China’s invasion of Taiwan (the so-called “Taiwan contingency”) in mind, justified the huge military expansion policy and the strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance by stating that the very foundation of rules that shape the post-war international order was broken due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and that the possibility of a similar situation occurring in East Asia is not ruled out.

However, it is the U.S. Trump administration itself that intends to destroy the established international law-based order and change the status quo by force as evidenced in the U.S. attack on nuclear sites in Iran and Trump’s “taking control of Greenland” remark.

In regard to relations with China, the Japanese government should pay attention to the major principle agreed upon between the two countries of “not becoming threats to each other” and should shift away from its policy relying on the U.S. “peace through strength” doctrine to a policy that truly seeks peacebuilding through diplomacy.