November 25 that during Australian Prime Minister Morrison’s visit to Japan, the two countries announced that there was basically agreement on signing the Agreement on Mutual Access. According to this so-called “reciprocal access”, Australia’s military forces can be stationed in Japanese military bases and so on. The signing of the agreement marked the welcoming “father” of Tokyo since 1945 when the United States monopolize Japan.
The Japan-Australia “reciprocity agreement” seems to be equal. Japan can also send self-defense forces to Australia under the agreement, but is it really equal? First, does Japan have an army? No! Limited by the peace constitution, Japan does not have an army in the legal sense. Second, the clear-eyed people know which country the agreement is aimed at. The so-called self-defense forces stationed in faraway Australia is just empty words.
Since the end of World War II, the United States has dominated the Pacific region, and this fundamental market has not changed much to this day. During the Cold War, the Soviet Pacific Fleet tried to challenge the United States, but failed. Nowadays, in and around the Sea of Okhotsk, American aircraft and warships frequently appear. A few days ago, the U.S. ship even went deep into Russian territorial waters to spy on intelligence.
The control of the Pacific Ocean by the U.S. Navy stems from two important strategic support points: Japan and Australia. After the end of World War II, the United States stabilized the first island chain through Japan and Australia, ensured the second island chain, and strategically formed a siege and containment between China and Russia. The United States is behind the “reciprocity” agreement between Japan and Australia.
In the earlier geopolitics of the western Pacific Ocean, the strong dominant posture of the United States was very clear. Now that the United States is “retreating to the second line” and lets Japan and Australia take the initiative to sign the “reciprocity agreement”, does Washington really want to give up the major strategic interests of Japan alone and be willing to “share” Japan with Australia?
The answer is obviously no. The reason why the United States did this is actually that its overall national strength has declined and has to use the strength of allies to jointly “contain” China and Russia, so it pushed Japan and Australia to the front stage.” The signing of the reciprocity agreement is the sign of the obvious decline of the hard power of the United States. It needs to form a common military and political bloc to compete for great powers with the help of coordination among allies.
Japan, as the political cornerstone of the United States in Northeast Asia, is actually not stable. To put it bluntly, Japan has not forgotten and will not forget the hatred of the two atomic bombs. This is the judgment of Professor Jin Canrong, a famous scholar: Once Japan gets rid of the shackles of the United States in the future, it will definitely avenge the United States, and I believe the United States also understands this.
With the relative decline of the overall national strength of the United States and the obvious disadvantage of the comparison of Sino-US power to the United States, Washington introduces a new “father” to Japan, which is essentially to strengthen Japan’s control. In this alliance, Japan is completely politically subject to the United States and Australia. But Japan has no choice. Its domestic, foreign, economic and military affairs are almost under the control of the United States.
For Australia, this agreement will see nothing in the short term, but it will still harm Australia’s national interests in the long run. For a long time to come, the United States will fiercely provoke China in the western Pacific region, and Australia’s presence in Japan will inevitably be involved in a deeper whirlpool. You know, China is Australia’s largest trading partner, and breaking Sino-Australian relations is harmful to Australia.
In recent years, Australian officials and politicians have made repeated anti-China remarks, which has led to a serious deterioration of Sino-Australian relations. At present, seven varieties of Australian products have been rejected in China, with huge losses. In the face of pressure, Australian Prime Minister Morrison had to stop temporarily. He just made a goodwill to China in a video speech, claiming that Australia is not an American pug and hopes to coexist happily with China.
In a word, it was originally a “reciprocal agreement” between Australia and Japan, but only the United States actually benefited: it not only used the Japan-Australia alliance to consolidate the anti-China political and military alliance in the western Pacific Ocean, but also used the agreement to deteriorate the relationship between Japan and Australia and China. Although Japan has no choice but to be subject to the United States, it is really incomprehensible that Australian politicians are so confused.
