Many people in Japan have hailed the "2+2 meeting" with Russia as a great diplomatic success for Japan. But a Japanese expert has critized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as using the meeting to garner support for the right to collective self-defense.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been playing up the concept of "active pacifism".
But Jiro Honzaum says it's only a cover for advocating the right to collective self-defense, in an attempt to obtain a greater say in the field of international defense.
Exercising the right to collective self-defense means to allow the nation to come to the military aid of an ally under attack.
Abe is trying to reverse the previous official position of the Japanese government, so that the country can exert its right to collective self-defense. The Japanese Prime Minister brought this up during the "two plus two meeting", but Russia did not rise to the bait.
"Russia did not directly comment on the matter of Japan’s right to collective self-defense. I personally believe that Russia came to the meeting with a wary attitude. Russia chose to remain silent for the time being considering the two plus two meeting is still in session. It's also focusing on its own development interests for Siberia," he said.
Jiro Honzaum pointed to the two countries having come to the 2+2 meeting with very different objectives in mind.
"Russia is fully aware of Abe’s intentions, but I don’t think it will fall in with Japan's strategy. Russia's biggest interest in the meeting is in getting technology and funds from Japan, promoting the development of Siberia as well as exporting oil and natural gas to Japan," he said.
Honzaum also explained the reason behind Abe’s attempts -- and subsequent failures -- to enhance diplomatic ties with other countries in recent years.
"Abe's understanding of history is all based on a complete rejection of Japanese post-war political system. This kind of mentality can never be accepted by countries such as the US, let alone Southeast Asian countries," he said.
Honzaum concluded that Russia was bound to share a consistent stance with other countries on the matter.
