... the scale of their military spending cannot be overlooked. Meanwhile, the United States treats their anxieties as useful leverage while focusing on its broader rivalry with China. Washington sees little downside: if Western Europeans pick a fight with Russia, or Japan does so with China, it imagines it will not bear the direct consequences.
This may be a dangerous illusion. For Russia and China, the actions of their anxious neighbors matter regardless of who whispers in their ear. The structural shifts in global politics are real....
... the Kremlin is lamenting about the US-China partnership. Furthermore, neither Moscow, nor Beijing is pursuing the idea of a legally binding military-political alliance with each other, similar to the multilateral North Atlantic Alliance or to the US-Japanese Security Treaty of 1960. Many in Russia and in China alike would argue that such rigid security arrangements in the XXI century appear to be inefficient and antiquated and that the existing more flexible format of interaction between Moscow and Beijing has proved to be more practical and more productive....
...
Almost 17 years ago, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
pointed out
that the intensive deployment of the theater missile defense system in the Asia Pacific calls global strategic stability into question, because it could be used against Russia and China. In 2018, the head of Russian diplomacy insistently
urged
Japan to enter into a dialogue about the U.S. plans to create a global missile defense system to prevent violation of Russia’s interests, in accordance with the principle of indivisible security. However, none has seen fit to respond to Russia’s well-grounded ...
... Military Cooperation Pushes More Rigid Bipolar Security Arrangement in Northeast Asia
Northeast Asia is an independent region from the socio-economic standpoint rather than from the political perspective. All actors, despite the current difficulties in Japan-China and Russia-Japan relations, stick to the established ties in different areas. Due to the specifics of its political regime and restrictions imposed by the UN Security Council as well by Tokyo and Seoul unilaterally, the DPRK is not heavily involved in economic ...
... General Kang Sun-nam stated in August, but who starts it and when.
Let's be clear: Pyongyang is much more sensitive about its sovereignty and independence than both Tokyo and even Seoul. This means that North Korea will never become an obedient proxy in Russia's or China's capable hands. However, the growing US-Japanese-South Korean military cooperation inevitably leads to stronger China-Russia-North Korea ties. This, in turn, means that we are moving toward a more rigid bipolar security arrangement in Northeast Asia. Unfortunately, for the time being, all the ...
... sanctions against Russia, China will do significant work to improve its own economic security in the event of similar complications with the West. At the same time, the ongoing processes are still unlikely to lead to the emergence of a full-fledged Russian-Chinese military-political union. By all appearances, China will keep its distance and free hand.
For Japan, the balance of gains and losses in the short term is rather negative. The prospect of a peace treaty with Russia is becoming extremely vague. Even before the new phase of confrontation, it was clear that the negotiations had reached an impasse....
...
could be increased
by a further $6.8 billion. The additional spending is to purchase weapons and equipment that were not delivered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to implement protective measures to respond to threats from North Korea and China. Judging by what Japanese diplomats have been saying recently, Russia may also be included in the official list of the country’s enemies. Increasing funding to 2% of GDP (from the current 1.3%),
as U.S. analysts have proposed
, will ensure the further improvement of the Japan Self-Defense Forces in terms of technology ...
... predict that at least in the medium term, and possibly longer, the Russo-Chinese partnership will continue to grow. That is no reason for Moscow and Tokyo to regard each other as adversaries, however. Moreover, since an armed conflict between America and China would spell a global calamity and have a high chance of turning nuclear, other major powers, including Russia and Japan, have a vital interest in preventing such a collision. Expanding the still very modest elements of trust in the Japan-Russia relationship, talking through reciprocal concerns before they lead to conflict, avoiding bilateral incidents, and engaging ...
... anti-dumping and new customs legislation, or with the U.S., introducing sanctions for arms supplies to Taiwan. Beijing is also looking for new partnerships with scientific centers and laboratories instead of American ones, which creates an opportunity for Russia. With the EU–China and Japan–China relations being also somewhat in jeopardy, small and medium powers in Asia and other regions may attempt to cooperate with the latter.
Alexander Gabuev
, Chair of the Russia in the Asia Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, supported ...
... economic and social problems will be so great that they may jeopardize the country’s status and economic position. Moving on to China and Russia, they do not want to see a conflict breaking out on the Korean peninsula and call for stability, in the hope that it may eventually lead to the peaceful coexistence of the two Koreas. As for Japan, the country has an irrational fear of North Korea, but has not developed an official position on the issue, and in any ...
