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Japan Wakes Up

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Japan Wakes Up
A Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires ammunition during a live fire exercise at JGSDF's training grounds in the East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan, on May 22, 2021. The annual live-fire drill takes place shortly after China's ambassador to Japan criticized the Quad grouping, a security dialogue comprising of the United States, Japan, India and Australia, as representing a ‘Cold War mentality’ and ‘100% outdated.’ Akio Kon/Getty Images
Clyde Prestowitz
Updated:
Commentary

The decoration of the cover of Japan’s just published 2021 Defense White Paper says it all. Last year’s white paper was covered by a photo of Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms. This year’s version features a 14th-century samurai riding toward the reader.

Clyde Prestowitz
Clyde Prestowitz
Author
Clyde Prestowitz is an Asia and globalization expert, a veteran U.S. trade negotiator, and presidential adviser. He was the leader of the first U.S. trade mission to China in 1982 and has served as an adviser to Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and Obama. As counselor to the secretary of commerce in the Reagan administration, Prestowitz headed negotiations with Japan, South Korea, and China. His newest book is "The World Turned Upside Down: America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership," which was published in January 2021.
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