BERLIN/TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Own report) – For the first time ever, the German government will hold German-Japanese government consultations in Tokyo this weekend with a special focus on expanding bilateral combat exercises at the Pacific. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and six ministers, including Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, will meet for talks with their Japanese counterparts tomorrow to intensify cooperation between the two states. This comes at a time when not only Japan is embarking on a massive arms build-up, increasing its military budget by over 50 percent, and is procuring missiles and cruise missiles that can reach China. The United States as well, is dramatically expanding its military presence in the vicinity of the People’s Republic, amassing its armed forces throughout the first island chain off China’s coast – from Japan via Taiwan to the Philippines – and turning Australia into a sort of rear base of operations for launching eventual attacks on China. Even military bases on small islands in the Pacific are being expanded to secure supplies from the USA for combat in eastern Asia. At the same time, the Bundeswehr is expanding its exercises throughout the entire region. Read more

TOKYO/WASHINGTON/BERLIN (Own report) – NATO will systematically expand its cooperation with Japan, and cooperate more closely than ever before with that East Asian country’s traditional armed forces in cyber defense and outer space. The world has reached “a historical inflection point,” in which the “balance of power is also rapidly shifting in the Indo-Pacific, according to a Joint Statement, signed this week in Tokyo by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The upgrading of cooperation, which Berlin is also promoting on a national level, comes at a time, when Japan is embarking on an arms build-up, unprecedented since 1945. It is increasing its military budget by over 50 percent, which will make it the country with the third-largest military budget in the world and will acquire an arsenal of missiles capable of massive attacks on targets in China. At the same time, the United States is intensifying its military cooperation with Japan – in a way that experts compare to the build-up of Western military potential around Ukraine since 2014. Washington is pursuing similar efforts throughout the first island chain off China – also on Taiwan and in the Philippines. Read more

TOKYO/BERLIN (Own report) – The German Bundeswehr will send fighter planes to combat exercises in the Asian-Pacific realm. This was confirmed by the Air Force on the occasion of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ visit to Japan. According to the statement, six German Eurofighters will be dispatched to Australia to participate in a maneuver and from there make a short visit in Japan. Scholz’ visit serves the purpose of expanding German-Japanese cooperation, in view of the intensification of the West’s power struggle with China. On the one hand, the German government seeks to expand German-Japanese business relations, to relativize the significance of the People's Republic of China for German industry, given the fact that Japan is considered an integral part of the western alliance and “conflict-proof” – unlike the case of China, western sanctions against Japan are out of the question. On the other hand, Berlin is seeking closer cooperation in foreign and military policy. For this purpose, in November 2021, the German frigate Bayern made a stopover in Yokohama at the entrance of Tokyo Bay. Germany’s military presence in Japan is beginning to normalize. Read more

BERLIN/TOKYO (Own report) - In Tokyo today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will conclude a statement of principles on intelligence service cooperation with Japan more closely linking Germany to espionage structures directed against China. According to reports, the agreement will initially regulate the exchange of intelligence information, along the lines of similar agreements Japan has concluded also with the USA, Australia, India, and NATO. Berlin and Tokyo are thereby drawing closer to the US-led "Five Eyes" intelligence network, which launched an international campaign against Beijing last summer. As the Western campaign against China gains momentum, the German government, together with Japan, is also seeking to make a stand against the USA, staking its claim to an independent global policy. Therefore, Berlin is taking joint action, not only with Japan, but with Beijing as well against the Trump administration's punitive tariffs, as Norbert Röttgen, CDU foreign policy maker explained. Read more

TOKYO/BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Own report) - With the conclusion of their free trade agreement, the EU and Japan are about to establish the world’s largest free trade zone. As was reported, the agreement between the two highly export oriented economic blocks, generating nearly 30 percent of the global economic output, could already take effect in early 2019. According to the EU Commission and German economic institutes the Japan-EU Free Trade Agreement (JEFTA) could lead to significant economic growth and the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs. On the one hand, the agreement is aimed at making up for eventual slumps on the US market and, on the other, is part of the containment strategy against China, the emerging powerhouse. Despite their differences, Berlin and Washington continue to cooperate in their opposition to Beijing. Parallel to the JEFTA agreement, the EU, Japan and the USA have declared that they will jointly take on China more aggressively over trade issues. Read more