Emperor Naruhito of Japan is officially the head of state, even though his powers are largely ceremonial. Largely, but not entirely. He must know that Joe Biden’s “condition” leaves Japan open to Chinese nuclear blackmail. With a new prime minister to be seated on October 4, Japan may have an opportunity to protect itself from the growing threat from Beijing and the uncertain prospects of the current U.S. administration.
The reality is, Biden’s apparently deteriorating cognitive processes may render him less-than-capable to use the precise nuclear selective release authorities needed to defend Japan in a crisis. His decline is so obvious that his own political party has proposed taking the nuclear codes away from him.
Kamala Harris, a former paramour of high-placed Democrats, who whinnies like a confused mare at every hard question posed to her, is unlikely to be any better. Very unlikely.
Exactly how the United States, constrained by such leadership, can effectively manage the nuclear defense of Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, is anyone’s guess.
Thus, it might be in the best interest of Japan for the emperor to suggest to his new government that a new interpretation of Article Nine is in order.
The Chinese juggernaut first described in Unrestricted Warfare, a book first published in 1999 by Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui of the People’s Liberation Army, aimed to erode U.S. power in all areas of national security: Currency manipulation in the economic sphere; a vast buildup in modern strategic military forces; a huge internet and television propaganda organization matched by an even bigger cyber warfare force in the information domain. And a diplomatic effort so good that it engages in face-to-face finger-wagging at a hapless Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state. All this, first put forth 22 years ago, rolls ahead unchecked, before our very eyes.
Moreover, the Chinese have sought to weaken the internal structure of the U.S. government of the United States through decades of “lobbying” (read: bribery). “Can special funds be set up to exert greater influence on another country’s government and legislature through lobbying?”
Regarding the effectiveness of such ideas put so straightforwardly in a military tome, names such as Representative Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Hunter Biden instantly come to mind; not to mention Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) Chinese driver/spy. Or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband, Paul, who continues his sojourns as he oinks his way through the Chinese trough.
Given the ever-growing evidence of Biden’s declining mental faculties, how can Japan depend on the U.S. nuclear “umbrella” when its manager can’t tell if it’s raining?
Would it not be in Japan’s best interest to arm itself with nuclear weapons?
Given that Japan has had for decades fast breeder reactors for electrical power and now owns some 100,000 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium, enough for four to six thousand nuclear bombs, it could be an operational nuclear power in a matter of months.
Moreover, Japan’s Epsilon solid-fuel satellite launcher is readily adaptable as an intermediate-range ballistic missile. (Maybe rename the missile the Nanking I—or would that be too on-the-nose?)
Japan’s “small” Izumo and Hyuga class aircraft carriers could be modified easily to carry F-35Bs, which can be readily fitted with tactical nuclear bombs.
Although Japan has been scrupulous about following its constitution and policy of non-militarism since 1947, it might be time to consider assembling such weapons under the banner of self-defense through deterrence—exactly as the United States did during the Cold War.
In light of Biden’s horrendous debacle in Afghanistan, his meandering COVID response, and his growing inability to speak coherently on camera, it may well be time for Japan to defend itself autonomously.
Such a move would also have the salubrious effect of rolling a very large log into the path of the Chinese juggernaut, giving the entire world and especially the United States a chance to regroup after the last Chinese juggernaut—COVID-19.
Better start now.