Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida departed from Tokyo Haneda Airport by special plane to visit five member countries of the Group of Seven (G7) including France, Italy, the UK, Canada, and the US, on January 9, local time. In response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and China's movement, one of the main contents of Kishida's visit is to strengthen security cooperation with other G7 members, especially with the US.
当地时间1月9日，日本首相岸田文雄乘政府专机从东京羽田机场出发，访问七国集团（G7）中的五个成员国法国、意大利、英国、加拿大和美国。为应对俄乌冲突及中国的动向，岸田此次访问的主要内容之一是与G7其他成员国，特别是与美国加强安保方面的合作。
Recently, Japan has introduced three policy documents related to national security, announced that it will double its defense budget, and claimed to "have the counterstrike capability." In this regard, German International Politics and Society stated that Japan is breaking the pacifist tradition of more than 70 years after World War II, and its national security strategy has shifted from pure defense to military build-up and offense. Many critics believe that Japan will return to the dark militarism of its past.
近来，日本出台与国家安全保障相关的三份政策文件，宣布将防卫预算翻倍，还大肆炒作要“拥有反击能力”。对此，德国《国际政治与社会》称，日本正在打破二战后70多年来的和平主义传统，其国家安全战略从单纯的防御转向军事集结和进攻。许多批评者认为这将使日本回到其过去黑暗的军国主义之中。
Professor Liu Jiangyong of the Department of International Relations of Tsinghua University said on January 9 that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to the five G7 countries is an important step in his diplomacy in 2023. First, the G7 summit will be held in Kishida's hometown, Hiroshima and he hopes to consolidate and improve his ruling status in Japan through this summit, and at the same time increase Japan's international influence. Second, the visit happened after the Japanese government released a new version of the three security documents, which marks a fundamental change in Japan's postwar strategy toward China. Japan has positioned China as "the biggest strategic challenge so far", which is the most aggressive among G7 members. Japan hopes that its positioning of China can help gain international support. The G7 countries may further reach a consensus on thisat the summit to be held in May.
清华大学国际关系学系教授刘江永9日表示，日本首相岸田文雄这次出访G7五国是其2023年外交的重要步骤，其主要目的是：首先，今年5月，G7峰会将在岸田的家乡广岛举办，岸田希望通过这场峰会巩固和提高其在日本的执政地位，同时提高日本的国际影响力。其次，此次出访在日本内阁发布了新版安保三文件之后，安保三文件的出台，标志着日本战后对华战略发生根本性改变。日本将中国定位为“迄今最大战略挑战”，这在G7成员国中是最激进的。日本希望自己的对华定位能在国际上获得支持。在5月的G7峰会上，西方七国可能进一步就此达成共识。
During Kishida's visit, unlike his bilateral talks with the leaders of France, Italy, and the UK, he attached special attention to the talks with US President Joe Biden. He defined the Japan-US summit as a "precious opportunity." The Associated Press reported that the key focus of Kishida'svisit is to highlight the strength of the Japan-US alliance and how the two countries can work more closely under Japan's new security strategy.
在岸田此次出访中，与他和法意英等国首脑举行的双边会谈不同，岸田文雄尤其看重与美国总统拜登的会谈，他把日美首脑会谈定位为“宝贵的机会”。美联社称，岸田文雄此次访问，关键重点是凸显日美同盟的力量，以及两国如何在日本新的安保战略下更紧密合作。
In this regard, Liu said that Kishida's visit is the first strategic coordination between the leaders of Japan and the US after Japan releasing the new security documents. Japan and the US will strengthen coordination in a series of major changes in military affairs and strategy. In the US-Japan alliance in the past, Japan could only coordinate with the US in combat operations. Now, this traditional post-war Japan-US military division of labor has undergone qualitative changes.
对此，刘江永表示，此次岸田出访是日本在出台新安保文件后日美首脑之间首次战略协调，日美将在军事、战略等一系列重大变化过程中加强协调。过去，在美日同盟中，日本只能协同美国作战，现在，这种战后以来传统的日美军事分工发生了质的变化。
Liu believes that in terms of relations with China, Japan is more eager than the US to prevent China's peaceful development, prevent China's complete reunification, and prevent China from exerting influence in the international arena because of its geostrategic needs and a series of entanglements with China, such as territorial issues and historical issues. At the same time, Japan needs to expand the strategic contradiction between China and the US, so as to seek its own interests. This may cause Japan to shift from a post-war country with peaceful development in East Asia to a road of military expansion with offensive capabilities and beggar-thy-neighbor. This is a warning sign for the Asia-Pacific region.
刘江永认为，在与中国的关系上，从某种意义上讲，日本比美国更迫切地想要阻止中国和平发展，阻止中国完全统一，阻止中国在国际上发挥影响力，因为它有地缘战略需求，以及和中国之间的领土问题、历史问题等一系列纠葛。与此同时，日本更需要扩大中美之间的战略矛盾，借此谋求日本自身的利益。这可能导致日本未来从东亚地区和平发展的战后国家的模式，转向走上具有进攻能力、以邻为壑的扩军道路，这对亚太地区来说是一个警讯。
Lyu Chao, dean of the Institute of American and East Asian Studies at Liaoning University, said that one of the important purposes of Kishida's visit to the G7 countries is to target China and contain China's development. Kishida intends to make use of this visit and act as a pawn for the US's Indo-Pacific strategy. In return, Kishida hopes that the US can agree to loosen restrictions on Japan's military expansion. Kishida also wants to win the support of European countries, so that they can back up Japan's confrontation against China in the Asia-Pacific region, and remove obstacles for the US to promote the Indo-Pacific Strategy.
辽宁大学美国与东亚研究院院长吕超则表示，岸田出访G7五国的重要目的之一是针对中国，遏制中国发展。岸田企图借此次出访为美国“印太战略”打头阵，充当马前卒，一方面换取美国同意对日本扩军松绑，另一方面也是为了争取欧洲国家的支持，让它们为日本在亚太地区与中国对立作后盾，为美国推动“印太战略”扫除障碍。
Under the current international situation, how to deal with the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a major issue facing the West, especially European countries. Kishida obviously takes this opportunity to further express Japan's position on the Russia-Ukraine issue, and to support European countries' decision to strengthen sanctions against Russia, in exchange for Europe's full support in the so-called "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy".
在当前的国际局势下，如何应对俄乌冲突带来的影响是摆在西方，尤其是欧洲国家面前的重大问题。岸田此次出访显然是利用这次机会进一步表明日本在俄乌问题上的立场，支持欧洲国家对俄罗斯加强制裁等决定，以此换取欧洲在所谓“自由开放的印太战略”上对日本的全力支持。
The Russian Sputnik News reported that Japan's recent series of actions have shown that it follows the US and acts as a pawn for the US's global strategy. The report quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in an interview with Russian media a few days ago, saying that Japan's various moves to strengthen its military power not only pose a serious challenge to Russia but also a threat to all Asia-Pacific countries. Russia will take reciprocal response measuresif Japan does not stop.
俄罗斯卫星通讯社称，日本近来一系列举动显示出它对美国的追随，为美国的全球战略充当马前卒。报道引述俄外交部副部长鲁坚科日前接受俄媒采访时的话称，日方种种加强军事力量的举动，不仅对俄方构成严峻挑战，同样也是对所有亚太国家的威胁。如果日方不停手，俄方会采取对等回应措施。
Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
