On Wednesday, Japan’s number two defense official said China and Russia are showing increased signs of military cooperation and their activities in the Pacific could show signs they plan to launch a Pearl Harbor-style attack on the U.S., similitar to how Japan did on Dec. 7, 1941, propelling the U.S. into World War II.
Speaking at a Hudson Institute event, Japanese State Defense Minister Yasuhide Nakayama said, “Seventy years ago, we attacked Pearl Harbor, but now the U.S. and Japan [are] very good allies, one of the best allies all over the world.” Nakayama went on to say now Russian naval forces “are really exercising just right in front of the western part of Honolulu, and so I don’t want to remind the 70 years ago, but we have to be careful of the exercising of the Russians.”
Japan’s State Defense Minister is the direct deputy to its Defense Minister, Japan’s top defense official
In recent days, Russia’s fleet has conducted various naval drills near Hawaii, including practicing sinking an aircraft carrier. Some Russian ships have been reported operating within 35 nautical miles of Hawaii’s coastline. Amidst the nearby Russian naval drills, the U.S. Navy repositioned Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 in the Hawaiian Islands Operating Area.
Nakayama said, “We have to show the deterrence towards China, and not just China but also the Russians, because, as I told you, that they are doing their exercises together.”
“China and Russia are doing very good. They are friends. They are very good friends, I think. But on the other hand, they are creating their own missiles capability, their own submarine capability. They are sharing their knowledge together, even with academia, I guess, or [research and development],” Nakayama said. “. . .So we have to more focus on how to protect and not just protect, but how to hedge the risk.”
Nakayama also drew a comparison between a potential nuclear attack by Russia or China and the U.S. nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan during World War II.
“If some country shoot’s [a nuclear weapon] from their continent towards Honolulu, that missile’s . . . the warheads compared to Hiroshima, it’s 200 times more than Hiroshima,” Nakayama said. “So I’ve been to Hiroshima before and I went to the museum before, from that experience and the perspective, if 200 times more strong atomic bombs or torpedoes or missiles, warheads towards Honolulu, I think Honolulu will be erased from the map. So we have to think before using those powers, we have to think how to stop it.”
Nakayama also described the growing threat of invasion China poses against Taiwan and how Japan and the U.S. must cooperate to keep Chinese actions in check.
“What we can do is show the deterrence and also [that an attack] or happening towards Taiwan, it’s straight to relate to not just Japan, but also the U.S.-Japan alliance even,” he said.
