Mr. Xi is planning to use Japan as a tool to halt this trend.
2020/10/06
The following is from an article by Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai in yesterday's Sankei Shimbun.
Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai is a national treasure, as defined by Saicho. And she is a supreme national treasure.
China's 'trap' waiting for Suga
The international community has shifted from being dominated by the United States to an era of cooperation among countries that share the same values.
The Indo-Pacific region is the main battleground for the international order's joint defense based on values to deter China's expansion.
Of these, the main focus is on Japan-China relations.
Japan's geopolitical position in the broad sweep of history will significantly impact U.S.-China relations, and Japan's actions will substantially impact U.S.-China relations.
Do not underestimate Japan's role, and do not shirk from the great responsibility that Japan must assume for the sake of the free world.
The United States and Europe need to help each other; the medium- to long-term threat is China.
China is a neighbor that should cherish. Still, they are wiping out Uyghurs and other minorities with long-term, systematic oppression unprecedented in human history.
Being surrounded by enemies on all sides is suffering the consequences.
Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was so pro-China that she said, "we must accept the challenge" of China's growing influence in violation of international law, has now begun strengthening relations with Indo-Pacific countries.
Still, President Xi Jinping, unrepentant, is stepping up his aggressive offensive.
In a telephone conversation with the world's leaders, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pushed his meeting with Xi to the back burner of Australia, the United States, and India, taking into account the basic structure of Japan's relationship with the United States, Australia, and India. However, the content of the September 25 Japan-China summit meeting announced by the Chinese side shows the "trap" that awaits Kan.
China sees Japan as the "weakest link in the partnership" and is pursuing cutting it down.
China, isolated in the wake of the Tiananmen Square protests, used then-Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu as a cage to break the circle of sanctions. China likely intends to make Suga the second leader of Kaifu.
Chinese officials said in a telephone conversation that Xi had the following to say: "China is primarily concerned with the domestic general circulation.
China has been trying to promote the formation and implementation of a new development framework. The domestic and international double circulation are mutually stimulated, with the domestic grand circulation as the main factor. The two sides will safeguard a stable and smooth industrial chain and supply chain and a fair and open trade and investment environment and raise the quality and level of cooperation.
The "domestic/international double circulation" is an idea they call "dual circulation" (two supply chains).
In May this year, it announced amid the increasingly severe U.S. crackdown on Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei, which has halted almost all semiconductors exports.
This tactic is aimed at smoothing out the supply chain at home and abroad.
The "China Manufacturing 2025" policy has stalled due to the U.S. offensive, foreign currency has fallen sharply, and capital outflows continue to be on the order of ¥20 trillion a year.
Capital and people will continue to flee from the Chinese Communist Party-controlled country, which cannot make people happy.
Mr. Xi is planning to use Japan as a tool to halt this trend.
It should read as a proposal to Suga to build a more robust supply chain between Japan and China and directly reject the idea of separating and decoupling China.
This article continues.