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Japan Abandons America
Japan Abandons America
September 22, 2009 | From theTrumpet.com
The USS America is sinkingand Japan is getting off while it can.
For over 50 years, one party ruled Japan virtually uninterrupted. During that time, Japan remained a loyal ally and supporter of U.S. policy. This month, a historic event took place.
Japan has new leadership. In a landslide victory, a new party has done the seemingly impossible. A new freshman class of leaders now governs the Land of the Rising Sun. The effects are already rippling across the Pacific toward America.
Yukio Hatoyama is Japans new leader. He officially took office last Wednesday, and he is already threatening to split with the United States.
Hatoyama blames America for the global economic crisis and says that the U.S. is responsible for the destruction of human dignity. He campaigned on protecting traditional Japanese economic activities and reducing U.S.-led globalization.
During the run-up to the election, Hatoyamas finance minister told the bbc he was worried about the future value of the dollar, and that if his party were elected in the upcoming national elections, it would refuse to purchase any more U.S. treasuries unless they were denominated in Japanese yen.
Japan is the worlds second-largest economy. It is also Americas second-most-important creditor. The U.S. government owes Japan over $724 billion! The only nation America owes more money to is China ($800 billion). The U.S. also imports $140 billion worth of goods from Japan each year.
If Japan were to follow through with its threat to only lend in yen, the dollar would probably fall hard. What would that mean? America gets more expensive consumer goods, higher unemployment, and currency inflation. If other nations like China follow suit, we would be looking at a currency crisisZimbabwe-style.
The new government in Japan has also pledged to diversify its foreign currency reserves away from the dollar. This means that at some point, it will need to dramatically reduce how much money it lends to America. America is planning to borrow record amounts over the next couple of years, so something isnt adding up here. Where will the money come from?
The financial crisis has suggested to many that the era of U.S. unilateralism may come to an end, Hatoyama wrote in an August 26 New York Times article titled A New Path for Japan. It has also raised doubts about the permanence of the dollar as the key global currency.
But Hatoyama isnt just charting a separate economic course for Japan. His campaign also promised a more independent foreign policy from Washington, and closer relations with Japans Asian neighbors.
More alarming for American policymakers, Hatoyama has authorized a wide-ranging review of the U.S. military presence on Japanese soil. He is reexamining the agreement that permits U.S. warships to dock at Japanese ports, and has said Japan should take a second look at why it is spending billions to house and transfer U.S. troops between its islands. Hatoyama has also moved to quickly end Japans fueling support for the U.S. naval anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On Wednesday, an even bigger torpedo hit. Both U.S. and Japanese officials confirmed that discussions were underway to remove all U.S. fighter aircraft from Japan.
So many alarm bells have been clanging in Washington that the Australian reports the U.S. administration has requested immediate clarifying discussions on just how far Japan wants to take the disengagement. But there may not be too much America can do if Japan is intent on reducing Americas presence in Japanese territory. Regarding the U.S.-Japan security relationship, Richard Armitage, former U.S. deputy secretary of state, said: If the government of Japan asked us to change things, wed argue, wed kick and scream, but ultimately wed have to do it.
Japan is a major platform for American power projection. Losing it would be devastating to U.S. security.
Japan is Americas most important forward base in the Pacific. It is an unsinkable aircraft carrier from which American task forces can operate to secure the flow of trade and resources across the Pacific.
At a time when China is increasingly challenging American authority in the East and South China Sea, when North Korea is brandishing nuclear weapons, and Islamic terrorism is on the upswing in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, America can ill afford to lose Japanese military and logistical support.
But it is losing it.
In his New York Times article, Prime Minister Hatoyama asked, How should Japan maintain its political and economic independence and protect its national interest when caught between the United States, which is fighting to retain its position as the worlds dominant power, and China, which is seeking ways to become dominant? (emphasis mine throughout).
Being allied with America has become a problem for Japan.
The new prime minister is no doubt asking himself: How do I protect Japans interests? The distant Americans sit 5,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean. One billion Chinese could fly to Tokyo for breakfast, Taiwan for lunch, and back home for kung pao dinner before Americas fastest jets could make it much past Hawaii.
In the same article, Hatoyama answered his own question: [W]e must not forget our identity as a nation located in Asia, he said. I believe that the East Asian region, which is showing increasing vitality, must be recognized as Japans basic sphere of being.
I also feel that as a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of U.S.-led globalism is coming to an end . Hatoyama even said that Japan must spare no effort to build the permanent security frameworks essential to creating a new anti-dollar regional Asian currency shared by China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Hatoyama doesnt just think Americas economy and power are fading fast, hes publishing it in the New York Times! He sees Japans future as being with Asia. And hes right.
There is a bold movement occurring in Asia. Old animosities are being forgotten, or resolved. I believe that regional integration and collective security is the path we should follow, Hatoyama reiterated. Only by moving toward greater integration can Asias problems be solved, he said.
This movement toward greater Asian cooperation will soon speed up drastically. Not only do the facts prove it, biblical prophecy forecasts it. A major military alliance between Russia, China and Japan is about to be locked in. (Read about this specific prophecy in Russia and China in Prophecy.)
Prime Minister Hatoyama may be the most pro-Asian Japanese prime minister yet. He has pledged to ignore Japans World War ii shrine that honors the countrys war dead, to avoid offending Korea. His only son is attending a prestigious Russian engineering university. And he is the first Japanese prime minister to receive election coverage by any Chinese print mediaand it was front-page news in the Communist Partys Peoples Daily. Also, for the first time, a Chinese television station provided live coverage of the election that saw Hatoyama take power.
Japans new policy is focused on Asiaand winning friends on the Asian continent.
America is about to lose its Japanese ally. The U.S. has been critical of new trends in Japan, but we are not a colony of Washington and we should be able to say what we want, said Makoto Watanabe, a professor of media and communication at Hokkaido Bunkyo University in Japan. [W]hile under previous governments Japan had become a yes-man to the U.S., this suggests to me that healthy change is taking place.
But that change will not be healthyespecially for America.
The Bible describes a time when America will be besieged by its former trade partners. This siege, warned about in Deuteronomy 28:52, is both economic and military in nature. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
America is about to be blockaded. For this to occur, Japan would need to take a radical turn from its recent historical political and economic persuasions.
It is radically turning. Today we are witnessing a dramatic fulfillment of this prophecy. America is about to become perilously isolated. The nation with the single largest merchant fleet in the world will turn its back on an economically waterlogged America. And America, without its most important military bases in Asia, will be one step closer to being pushed right out of the Asia Pacific altogether.
Americas ship of state is sinking. Japans lifeboat has already left.
Japan Abandons America
September 22, 2009 | From theTrumpet.com
The USS America is sinkingand Japan is getting off while it can.
For over 50 years, one party ruled Japan virtually uninterrupted. During that time, Japan remained a loyal ally and supporter of U.S. policy. This month, a historic event took place.
Japan has new leadership. In a landslide victory, a new party has done the seemingly impossible. A new freshman class of leaders now governs the Land of the Rising Sun. The effects are already rippling across the Pacific toward America.
Yukio Hatoyama is Japans new leader. He officially took office last Wednesday, and he is already threatening to split with the United States.
Hatoyama blames America for the global economic crisis and says that the U.S. is responsible for the destruction of human dignity. He campaigned on protecting traditional Japanese economic activities and reducing U.S.-led globalization.
During the run-up to the election, Hatoyamas finance minister told the bbc he was worried about the future value of the dollar, and that if his party were elected in the upcoming national elections, it would refuse to purchase any more U.S. treasuries unless they were denominated in Japanese yen.
Japan is the worlds second-largest economy. It is also Americas second-most-important creditor. The U.S. government owes Japan over $724 billion! The only nation America owes more money to is China ($800 billion). The U.S. also imports $140 billion worth of goods from Japan each year.
If Japan were to follow through with its threat to only lend in yen, the dollar would probably fall hard. What would that mean? America gets more expensive consumer goods, higher unemployment, and currency inflation. If other nations like China follow suit, we would be looking at a currency crisisZimbabwe-style.
The new government in Japan has also pledged to diversify its foreign currency reserves away from the dollar. This means that at some point, it will need to dramatically reduce how much money it lends to America. America is planning to borrow record amounts over the next couple of years, so something isnt adding up here. Where will the money come from?
The financial crisis has suggested to many that the era of U.S. unilateralism may come to an end, Hatoyama wrote in an August 26 New York Times article titled A New Path for Japan. It has also raised doubts about the permanence of the dollar as the key global currency.
But Hatoyama isnt just charting a separate economic course for Japan. His campaign also promised a more independent foreign policy from Washington, and closer relations with Japans Asian neighbors.
More alarming for American policymakers, Hatoyama has authorized a wide-ranging review of the U.S. military presence on Japanese soil. He is reexamining the agreement that permits U.S. warships to dock at Japanese ports, and has said Japan should take a second look at why it is spending billions to house and transfer U.S. troops between its islands. Hatoyama has also moved to quickly end Japans fueling support for the U.S. naval anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On Wednesday, an even bigger torpedo hit. Both U.S. and Japanese officials confirmed that discussions were underway to remove all U.S. fighter aircraft from Japan.
So many alarm bells have been clanging in Washington that the Australian reports the U.S. administration has requested immediate clarifying discussions on just how far Japan wants to take the disengagement. But there may not be too much America can do if Japan is intent on reducing Americas presence in Japanese territory. Regarding the U.S.-Japan security relationship, Richard Armitage, former U.S. deputy secretary of state, said: If the government of Japan asked us to change things, wed argue, wed kick and scream, but ultimately wed have to do it.
Japan is a major platform for American power projection. Losing it would be devastating to U.S. security.
Japan is Americas most important forward base in the Pacific. It is an unsinkable aircraft carrier from which American task forces can operate to secure the flow of trade and resources across the Pacific.
At a time when China is increasingly challenging American authority in the East and South China Sea, when North Korea is brandishing nuclear weapons, and Islamic terrorism is on the upswing in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, America can ill afford to lose Japanese military and logistical support.
But it is losing it.
In his New York Times article, Prime Minister Hatoyama asked, How should Japan maintain its political and economic independence and protect its national interest when caught between the United States, which is fighting to retain its position as the worlds dominant power, and China, which is seeking ways to become dominant? (emphasis mine throughout).
Being allied with America has become a problem for Japan.
The new prime minister is no doubt asking himself: How do I protect Japans interests? The distant Americans sit 5,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean. One billion Chinese could fly to Tokyo for breakfast, Taiwan for lunch, and back home for kung pao dinner before Americas fastest jets could make it much past Hawaii.
In the same article, Hatoyama answered his own question: [W]e must not forget our identity as a nation located in Asia, he said. I believe that the East Asian region, which is showing increasing vitality, must be recognized as Japans basic sphere of being.
I also feel that as a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of U.S.-led globalism is coming to an end . Hatoyama even said that Japan must spare no effort to build the permanent security frameworks essential to creating a new anti-dollar regional Asian currency shared by China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Hatoyama doesnt just think Americas economy and power are fading fast, hes publishing it in the New York Times! He sees Japans future as being with Asia. And hes right.
There is a bold movement occurring in Asia. Old animosities are being forgotten, or resolved. I believe that regional integration and collective security is the path we should follow, Hatoyama reiterated. Only by moving toward greater integration can Asias problems be solved, he said.
This movement toward greater Asian cooperation will soon speed up drastically. Not only do the facts prove it, biblical prophecy forecasts it. A major military alliance between Russia, China and Japan is about to be locked in. (Read about this specific prophecy in Russia and China in Prophecy.)
Prime Minister Hatoyama may be the most pro-Asian Japanese prime minister yet. He has pledged to ignore Japans World War ii shrine that honors the countrys war dead, to avoid offending Korea. His only son is attending a prestigious Russian engineering university. And he is the first Japanese prime minister to receive election coverage by any Chinese print mediaand it was front-page news in the Communist Partys Peoples Daily. Also, for the first time, a Chinese television station provided live coverage of the election that saw Hatoyama take power.
Japans new policy is focused on Asiaand winning friends on the Asian continent.
America is about to lose its Japanese ally. The U.S. has been critical of new trends in Japan, but we are not a colony of Washington and we should be able to say what we want, said Makoto Watanabe, a professor of media and communication at Hokkaido Bunkyo University in Japan. [W]hile under previous governments Japan had become a yes-man to the U.S., this suggests to me that healthy change is taking place.
But that change will not be healthyespecially for America.
The Bible describes a time when America will be besieged by its former trade partners. This siege, warned about in Deuteronomy 28:52, is both economic and military in nature. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
America is about to be blockaded. For this to occur, Japan would need to take a radical turn from its recent historical political and economic persuasions.
It is radically turning. Today we are witnessing a dramatic fulfillment of this prophecy. America is about to become perilously isolated. The nation with the single largest merchant fleet in the world will turn its back on an economically waterlogged America. And America, without its most important military bases in Asia, will be one step closer to being pushed right out of the Asia Pacific altogether.
Americas ship of state is sinking. Japans lifeboat has already left.
