Based on a Sankei Shimbun “Seiron” essay by Masashi Nishihara, chairman of the Research Institute for Peace and Security, this article argues that the Wuhan virus is not merely a public-health issue but a grave national security threat. It examines the limits of Japan’s emergency declaration, the need to add emergency powers to the Constitution, the importance of preserving the military strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance, vigilance toward China’s “mask diplomacy,” and the necessity of clarifying what actually happened in Wuhan.

April 15, 2020
As Japan learned through the bitter experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the authority of the Cabinet to issue a state of emergency should be added to the current Constitution, Article 73.
The following is from an essay by Masashi Nishihara, chairman of the Research Institute for Peace and Security, published in today’s Sankei Shimbun “Seiron” under the title, “The Wuhan Virus Is a National Security Issue.”
The new coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China, which is now raging in more than 180 countries around the world, has produced more than 1.9 million infected people and more than 100,000 deaths, and the acceleration of infection is about to bring about the collapse of medical systems in many countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump said, “I am a wartime president,” and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address, “We are at war with the new coronavirus.”
Japan, too, though belatedly, issued a “state of emergency declaration.”
The purpose of national security is the safety of the people.
In terms of infectivity and lethality, the new coronavirus is a major threat to national security.
The first state of emergency declaration.
The declaration issued by the Cabinet of Shinzo Abe was the first in Japan since the Second World War, and there seems to have been hesitation in issuing it.
When the spread of the new coronavirus was rapidly advancing in large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, one cannot deny the impression that the response was behind the curve.
The Japan Medical Association had already issued a “medical crisis situation declaration” on April 1, warning that “it will be too late after an explosive spread of infection occurs,” out of concern over the collapse of the medical system, and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike had also requested an early declaration.
However, this declaration has no coercive force, except for provisions concerning facilities for accommodating infected patients, and takes the form of “requesting the cooperation of the people.”
It would be good if the intended results can be obtained by this, but anxiety remains.
It is an extremely Japanese, gentle state of emergency declaration.
Moreover, the “Revised Special Measures Act against New Influenza and Other Diseases,” on which this declaration was based, is not permanent.
As Japan learned through the bitter experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the authority of the Cabinet to issue a state of emergency should be added to the current Constitution, Article 73.
It is known overseas as well that Japan’s measures against the new coronavirus are weak.
For Japan, a democratic country that respects freedom, to demonstrate the ability to respond swiftly to urgent security problems even by temporarily relinquishing freedom in an emergency will lead to Japan exercising leadership in the international community.
Prevent the decline of the fighting strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance.
What is of concern from the viewpoint of Japan’s national defense is that the spread of infection could interfere with the combat capabilities of Japan and the United States, or threaten Japan’s security.
The United States and South Korea had infected personnel in both militaries and canceled the joint exercise scheduled for March.
It is said that the South Korean military placed 9,000 personnel in voluntary quarantine.
Furthermore, infections occurred on four U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers deployed in the Indo-Pacific region.
On one of them, about 4,000 crew members, including infected personnel, were reportedly disembarked in Guam.
In response to these developments, it was a necessary move for the U.S. Forces Japan Command to issue a public health emergency declaration on April 6 for the Kanto region.
The spread of infection could also occur among U.S. forces in Japan and the Self-Defense Forces, and Japan and the United States must always strive to maintain the prescribed level of military strength.
If the fighting strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance declines, China will exploit that “vacuum,” behave without restraint in the western Pacific, and attempt to strengthen its position over the Senkaku Islands, Taiwan, and the South China Sea.
The spread of the new coronavirus is likely to further worsen U.S.-China relations, which had already deteriorated, and complicate Japan’s diplomacy toward both the United States and China.
This lies in the deepening of mutual distrust, from conspiracy theories about the outbreak of the new coronavirus to “mask diplomacy.”
On March 11, U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien criticized China, saying, “Because China concealed the outbreak of the new coronavirus, the world’s response was delayed by two months, and the damage increased.”
The new coronavirus is said to have been transmitted from bats at a market in Wuhan to humans, but the United States appears to suspect that the pathogen leaked from an infectious-disease-related research institute near the market.
In response, China argued, without presenting evidence, that the U.S. military had brought in the pathogen, thereby worsening relations.
How should Japan respond to the deterioration of U.S.-China relations?
Furthermore, the United States is criticizing China for underreporting the numbers of infected people and deaths in Wuhan.
The United States is also displeased that, after spreading the new coronavirus around the world, China is engaging in “mask diplomacy” by sending medical teams and large quantities of masks to many infected countries.
It is wary of China’s hegemonic ambitions behind this “mask diplomacy.”
Some American scholars ridicule it by saying, “The arsonist is playing the fire brigade.”
Along with China’s international responsibility regarding the outbreak of the new coronavirus, its domestic responsibility is also important.
The delay in announcing the outbreak of the new coronavirus, and the intensification of U.S.-China confrontation, may produce an anti-Xi Jinping power struggle within the Chinese Communist Party.
As a result, President Xi’s visit to Japan may collapse.
In the forecast that U.S.-China relations will worsen from now on, would it be desirable for the Japan-U.S. alliance if Japan chose friendship with China and aimed to realize President Xi’s visit to Japan?
The situation has changed with the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
Together with the United States, Japan should make China clarify what actually happened in Wuhan.
Furthermore, Japan should consider that criticizing China’s “mask diplomacy” together with the United States and Europe’s liberal-democratic camp will be useful for Japan’s national security in the long term.
Masashi Nishihara.