Tokyo Sends Beijing a Still More Explicit Message (Washington, Too)

Tokyo Sends Beijing a Still More Explicit Message (Washington, Too)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Japan's Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi attend the 2+2 Meeting at Iikura Guest House in Tokyo, Japan, on March 16, 2021. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool/Reuters
Milton Ezrati
Updated:
Commentary
Rising Japanese defense spending, as I wrote last month, has already sent a message to Beijing. In just the last few weeks, Tokyo has made that message still more pointed, for Beijing, to be sure, but also for Washington. Clearly, the future will contain heightened Sino-Japanese hostility and if not a direct confrontation, very possibly an arms race. Sometimes, it seems, nothing changes.
Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is "Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live."
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