Japan seeks cooperation with US for counterstrike capability amid regional tension: Report

Japan is considering acquiring counter-strike capability with the help of US to deter rival nations. Japan is in a hostile neighbourhood and faces threats from the People's Republic of China and Democratic People's Republic of North Korea. A Japanese news agency said that the proposal of acquiring counter-strike capability was mentioned in a policy document. 

The policy document was discussed at a working level meeting of Japan's ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner, Komeito. According to Sputnik, the Japanese news agency said that the ruling party, back in April, discussed the idea of acquiring a counter-strike capability with the help of the US. This is significant because after the 2nd World War, the new Japanese constitution was written by primarily American officials, during the allied occupation of Japan, under the leadership of General MacArthur. 

Japan's constitution and its defensive posture

The new constitution of Japan (also known as MacArthur's constitution) replaced the country's constitution of 1890, which was written after the Meiji Restoration. The Meiji Constitution was written at a time when Japan was industrialising and becoming a more cohesive nation, on par with nations of Europe and North America. It was a constitution that reflected an ascendant society. Japan's current constitution was written by Americans when Japan was an occupied country, a country destroyed due to the firebombing campaigns and the two nuclear bomb strikes. Article 9 is the most well known article of the constitution, which bars Japan from maintaining any capability of aggression. 

Impact of emergent threats 

As a result of this Article 9, Japan does not have an air force, army or navy, but it does maintain a self-defense force. Since the 2nd World War, due to this US imposed constitution, Japan has maintained a purely defensive posture, which rules out the ability to deter the enemy. Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe (the patriarch of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party) wanted to reinterpret Article 9 in a creative way, to ensure Japan can move on from a purely defensive posture. He was, unsurprisingly, quite unpopular in China due to this stance of his. 

Japan's willingness to adopt a counter-strike capability reflects Japanese polity's desire to move on from the defensive posture. This change is largely driven by emergent threats in the region, such as North Korea and China. Having a counter-strike capability means - if Japan is convinced that a rival nation is launching an attack on Japan, Tokyo can, if it chooses, target the missile silos, and command and control centres of the rival nation. Whether Japan chooses to use this capability is less important. 

The rationale of deterrence 

The demonstration of capability and a credible threat to use the capability, is the essence of deterrence. The underlying rationale is if the rival nations know that Japan has counter-strike capability and believe that Tokyo might use the capability, they will not target Japan. The Japanese news agency said that the guided missiles Japan might deploy will have a capability of 3,000 kilometers. As of now, it is not clear when Japan will acquire a counter-strike capability.