The following is from an article by Tadae Takubo, professor emeritus at Kyorin University, titled “Jittery diplomacy without a national army” in “Sound Argument,” a monthly magazine on sale now with a special feature Japanese people must get out of taking peace for granted.
The emphasis in the text other than the headline is mine.
It is a must-read for the Japanese people and people worldwide.
This paper is the correct theory among the suitable approaches.
Tadae Takubo wrote his whole being paper as a true patriot.
It is a paper that all Japanese citizens should go to their nearest bookstore to subscribe to immediately.
I sincerely hope that my chapter will reach as many Japanese citizens as possible.
I am confident that my translations into other languages will reach the heart of each country.
It is one of the best articles of the 21st century.
You can talk big all you want, but a nation that depends on the U.S. for the basis of its military power is a nation with one lung.
The “light armament and emphasis on the economy” that the Koikekai group led during Japan’s high-growth period ultimately shaped the country into what it is today.
The nation consults the U.S. on issues that affect the nation’s fate, such as diplomacy and defense. Politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties parrot “strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance” and “strengthening the deterrent force against China.
Specifically, there is no way to do anything other than increasing defense spending to the extent that it is unclear how effective this will deter China.
There is no other option but the “Japan-U.S. alliance” to decide Japan’s fate.
For the United States, which holds our power of life and death, we care about the complexion of the United States each time.
While the U.S. was intervening militarily in Afghanistan and then Iraq, China attempted to change the status quo through force, expanding into the South and East China Seas and making unsettling moves on the border with India.
As Japan occupies a geopolitical position, a kind of fear of causing trouble with this China is likely at work.
China’s maneuvering against Japan may also be having an effect.
Japanese diplomacy has become nervous to the extreme.
I wonder if the Japanese government, fed up with South Korea’s persistent accusations over the so-called comfort women, conscripts, and the gold mine issue on Sado Island is steadfastly prepared to do something about it.
North Korea has conducted seven missile launch tests this year through January 30.
If Japan were to conduct a missile test in front of its eyes that would put Japan in range, it would simply repeat empty “stern protests” and “violations of UN resolutions.”
Japan has no choice but to continue its jittery diplomacy, even though it is right to be nervous about all the countries involved.
The Phantom “Condemnation of China” Resolution  
On January 29, the day after it decided to nominate Sado Kinzan to the UNESCO World Heritage list, the local Niigata Nippo newspaper wrote the headline, “A Change of Course from the Consideration of Not Nominating the Sado Gold Mine,” on its front page.
The surprise that “postponed” had been changed to “recommended,” even though it was not expected, was evident. 
The problem is the editorial.
The editorial was reluctant from the outset to address the difficulties that are naturally expected due to South Korea’s opposition.
The editorial already expressed sympathy for the Korean side, saying, “We understand the Korean sentiment regarding forced labor, but the recommended Sado Gold Mine dates back to the Edo period.
As the Society for the Study of Issues Related to Historical Recognition (chaired by Tsutomu Nishioka) clearly states in an opinion ad in the same newspaper, 1,519 Korean laborers were mobilized at the Sado Gold Mine two-thirds of these, or 1,000, were “recruited” workers.
The other 500 traveled to Japan either through “government agents” or “conscripts,” but these were legal wartime labor mobilizations, and there was no such thing as “forced labor,” as the Koreans call it.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was initially cautious about the recommendation, but the issue was “reversed” after a “roundabout way,” as the headline in the Niigata Nippo grudgingly put it.
Before that, the Japanese government had supposedly made a cabinet decision that “the wartime mobilization of Korean laborers does not constitute ‘forced labor’ under the Convention on Forced Labor.
It is said that the registration cannot be made as long as there is opposition from the countries concerned, but there is no reason why we should be concerned about any other “opposition” with other intentions.
At the same time, the House of Representatives finally passed the “Resolution on the Serious Human Rights Situation in Xinjiang Uighur and Other Regions” by a majority vote at a plenary session on February 1.
I will not recount the details of how the LDP’s original draft ended up with a blurred focus as a result of lengthy adjustments, as reported by various mass media outlets.
However, although the lengthy resolution mentions serious human rights violations, including violations of religious freedom and forced imprisonment in Xinjiang, Tibet, Southern Mongolia, and Hong Kong, it leaves out the subject matter.
It simply states, “The international community has expressed its concern,” and then goes on to explain more about the situation.
There is only one place with the subject.
“We recognize that the change in the status quo due to the power symbolized by the serious human rights situation is a threat to the international community, and strongly urge the international community to be accountable for the serious human rights situation. Ask”
It just states that.
Even though the resolution relies on the international community having condemned China by name, there is no “China” or “condemnation,” which is the key to the solution.
It is equivalent to firing a gun into the darkness.
The original draft was revised by some pro-China members of the Liberal Democratic Party, who secretly and willingly accepted the unspoken consideration for China by the New Komeito Party.
Komeito has emphasized friendly relations with China since its formation in 1964, but has it considered what its actions mean today?
Japan has been threatened by the China Coast Guard’s public vessels that have appeared in the Senkaku Islands since 2012.
The United States, an ally, has entered into a total conflict with China. The premise of democratic countries such as the United States and Europe, including suppressing human rights, has been trampled.
The resolution itself, which tells us that the U.S. is secretly communicating with China, while placing itself in the free world, might not be questioned by the international community, which respects freedom, human rights, and the rule of law.
Cowardice is sometimes necessary for diplomacy, but we must beware of becoming cowardly.
This article continues.