Dr. Rajaram Panda
Introduction
On 12 July 2024, Japan published The Defense of Japan 2024 White Paper. (1) This is its landmark 50th edition, with the inaugural edition published in 1970. Since 1976, the White Paper has come out every year. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Self-Defense Forces. The annual report was approved by the Cabinet at a meeting the same day. It is packed with tough assessments of what it says is an increasingly fraught regional security environment that includes “an aggressive China, nuclear-armed North Korea and revanchist Russia”. (2)
The concept behind the front cover of the White Paper showed Japan working hard to forge its “sword” to avoid having to draw it as a deterrent to prevent any aggression against Japan. For the first time, Tokyo sounded a direct warning against the growing risk of a grave situation akin to Russia’s “invasion” of Ukraine occurring in East Asia. Expressing alarm over China, North Korea and Russia, the White Paper stated that a situation similar to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine may occur in the Indo-Pacific region in future, particularly in East Asia. (3)
The popular Asahi Shimbun observed in an editorial that while Japan needs a stable program and strengthens its defences to stay abreast of changes in its security environment, “excessive reliance on armed forces may prove counterproductive as this only generates unwanted tension”. (4)
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