London’s Kew Gardens Has Long Links to Japan. Now the Emperor Is Set to Visit.
New York TimesJUL 2024
The history of the 20th century shows the importance of state visits like these. While the UK and Japan held a 20-year alliance at the beginning of the last century, that quickly fell apart thanks to World War II. Likewise, the UK and its Japanese counterparts must maintain strong diplomatic and military cooperation today in the face of a growing Chinese military power.
While ruling Japanese politicians are fully on board with the West's geopolitical agenda in East Asia, the Japanese people are not. Japan shouldn't risk collapsing its successful history of pacifism simply to appease the West. Instead, its leaders should listen to the will of the people and spend equal time on strengthening ties with both the West and China.