"CEAC Commentary" introduces news analyses andopinions in Japan on topics related to regional
cooperation and integration in East Asia, but they do
not represent the views of CEAC as an institution.

June 24, 2013

The Japan-NATO Joint Political Declaration as aYellow Card to the US
By KATO Akira
The first political declaration between Japan and NATO was signed on April 15
this year by Prime Minister ABE Shinzo and Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
This declaration is based on Prime Minister ABE’s speech at the North Atlantic Council inRiga, Latvia on January 12, 2007 in his first term. The political declaration is in accordancewith the Riga speech. In a sense, Prime Minister ABE presented his previous speech at Riga
as a political commitment to NATO this time.
The key point of this political declaration is stated, “Japan and NATO are
dedicated to the values of individual liberty, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
We are each determined to safeguard these shared values as well as the freedom and thesecurity of our populations.” Prime Minister ABE articulated the same principle, “Japan andNATO are partners. We have in common such fundamental values as freedom, democracy,
human rights and the rule of law. It is only natural that we cooperate in protecting andpromoting those values” at the beginning of the Riga speech.

In some ways, Japan and NATO confirmed that they are an “alliance of ideology” toshare common values through this declaration. Come to think of it, there is nothing strange thatJapan and NATO share values of freedom and democracy. That is because the US‐Japanese
Security Treaty models after the NATO treaty. Article 4 and 9 of the former Security Treaty of1951 are based on Article 3 and 9 of the NATO treaty.
On the other hand, the preamble of the revised US-Japanese Security Treaty of 1960is almost the same as that of NATO. For example, the revised security treaty states “Japanand the United States of America, Desiring to strengthen the bonds of peace andfriendship traditionally existing between them, and to uphold the principles ofdemocracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law,” while the NATO treaty states “[TheParties to this Treaty] are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage andcivilization of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty andthe rule of law.” The ideals of “the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule oflaw” in both treaties have been the common bond among Japan, the United States, andNATO members throughout the postwar period, and therefore, they constitute a trilateralalliance of values.
Furthermore, I would like to mention one point that many experts dismiss. When you
compare sentences of Article 1 and 2 of both treaties, including periods and commas, you willfind striking similarities. This is an inevitable consequence, in a sense. We must take note ofArticle 2, which is known as the economy clause. The United States inserted this clause intothe security treaty from NATO’s Article 2 to meet Prime Minister-then KISHI’s intention to
weaken military nature of the US-Japanese treaty. With this economy clause, therelationship between Japan and NATO nations can be regarded as an economic alliance.
If Japan can overcome the collective defense problem of the US-Japanese Security
Treaty, practically, this will pave the way for joining the collective security system withNATO. Both treaties are so alike each other. Actually, the joint political declaration this time
seems to be the first step toward Japan’s participation in collective defense, as it states
mutual cooperation in international conflicts. Both the US-Japanese Security Treaty andthe NATO Treaty are commonly led by the United States. During the Cold War era, bothtreaties were anti-Soviet military alliances, economic alliances, and above all, value(ideology) alliances.
The value alliance among Japan, the United States, and NATO rifted when
US-Chinese diplomatic relations were restored. America had been distancing itself from
European styled power politics since the independence, but Kissinger’s balance of power
diplomacy (though some experts say it was Nixon’s initiative) led the United States to form
an anti-Soviet alliance with China, despite the lack of shared values, as in the case of theGerman-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. Apparently, the United States ignored the trilateralcommon values of “the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law” atthat time. Today, some pro-China policymakers such as Kissinger and his fellows, dismissthese fundamental principles and common values, and plot to share hegemony with China
simply on the basis of power politics, as if both countries signed a secret agreement. America
must remember that its foreign policy priority be given to shared values with Japan andNATO which are “the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law”, andnever to shared hegemony with China for the purpose of cold blooded power politics.
This time, the joint political declaration between Japan and NATO confirmed thatboth parties can form a security alliance for cooperation to resolve international conflicts

and an alliance of common values. In addition, I would like to emphasize that thisdeclaration is a yellow card to the United States as it dismisses our common values of “theprinciples of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law” and appeases China for thesake of power politics, rather than to China that is pursuing dangerous and provocative
expansionism.

(This is an English translation of the article written by Mr. KATO Akira, Professor of J.
F. Oberlin University, which originally appeared on the BBS “Hyakka-Somei” of CEAC
on May 20, 2013.)