If the logic of aid has been to quell countries from testing then it has not worked. National security far exceeds economic imperatives. If the logic of aid has been to soothe China then again it has not worked for China tested nuclear weapons in 1995 and is ready to deploy over 200 short-range missiles. Recently, Japanese foreign minister Yohei Kono warned that stepped-up Chinese naval activities near Japan imperiled aid from Tokyo and urged both sides to settle differences openly so the wary neighbors may improve ties. China will be hardly bothered but the realist advocates in Japan will use the opportunity to examine critically the country's aid policy.
Japan is in a period of dilemma.
A natural effect of the people's traditional idealism and the growing realism of threats around it. The Scylla and Charybdis of desires for denuclearisation on the one hand and dependence on extended US deterrance on the other do not leave much room for Japan. The US factor in itself gives threat perception to its enemies. However, this internal contradiction is bound to give the debate on going nuclear a good boost. The spark of the debate, the most unlikely place, goes back to the October 1999 Playboy issue.