Robyn Lim - The Japan Times

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Robyn Lim

For Robyn Lim's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY

Nov 23, 2007

Australia facing tough nuclear issues

Australia's election Saturday will be fought mostly over domestic issues, especially interest rates. While Labor is well ahead in the polls, its victory is not assured. But whoever becomes prime minister after the election will face some contentious decisions on nuclear issues. And it's not just Australians who will be watching closely.

COMMENTARY

Sep 20, 2007

Defense debate bordering on bizarre

The trigger for Shinzo Abe's resignation was the refusal by opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa to agree to further deployments of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Indian Ocean after authorizing legislation runs out on Nov. 1.

COMMENTARY

Aug 16, 2006

Japan far too vulnerable to Pyongyang's missiles

After North Korea's July 5 missile tests, Japan, for the first time since 1945, is asking America to beef up its military presence in Japan. Why? Because Japan's hedging and tardiness in relation to missile defense has left its cities more vulnerable than they need be. That risks encouraging Pyongyang in its dangerous nuclear and missile brinkmanship.

COMMENTARY

Jul 23, 2006

Downhill path from fear to proliferation

Why have some of Japan's leaders been talking about the need to acquire the ability to attack North Korean missiles on the launchpads? It's because they know that the United States, despite its overwhelming air and maritime power, cannot credibly threaten North Korea. That is because North Korea holds Seoul hostage by threat of artillery and rockets. Thus Pyongyang's dangerous nuclear and missile brinkmanship is potentially destabilizing.

COMMENTARY

May 17, 2006

Taro Aso has a history problem with Australia

When Foreign Minister Taro Aso visited Australia recently, did he know that the father of the Australian foreign minister, Alexander Downer, had been a Japanese prisoner of war in the notorious Changi jail in Singapore? And if Alexander Downer Sr. had been sent to a certain camp in Kyushu, as some 200 other Australian POWs were, he might have become a slave laborer in the Aso family coal mine.

COMMENTARY

Jan 29, 2006

Cheap ride on U.S. security

As a "rising" China presses on its maritime frontiers in the East and South China Seas, tensions with Japan are increasing rapidly because of the maritime basis of Japanese security. Yet Japan thinks it can reduce defense spending, continue to rely on the United States for its strategic security, and poke China in the eye while expecting America to keep China on a leash. A jumble of contradictions.

COMMENTARY

Jan 6, 2006

China eschews Soviet redux

China's rapid-force modernization is driving strategic events in East Asia. But China is no longer communist; nor does it represent the same kind of threat posed by the USSR when it possessed huge military power and stretched across Eurasia, threatening U.S. allies at both ends. Thus important differences exist today between China and the old USSR. American and Japanese policy must take account of these differences.

COMMENTARY

Dec 14, 2005

Countdown to Taiwan's co-optation

The resounding defeat of Taiwan's ruling party in recent local elections means that China may soon be able to take Taiwan by a combination of enticement and threat. That could occur after Taiwan's March 2008 presidential elections, in the leadup to the Beijing Olympics.

COMMENTARY

Nov 24, 2005

Time for U.S. to leave Korea

When U.S. President George W. Bush was in Pusan last weekend for the APEC summit, he and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun agreed upon a "strategic dialogue" at ministerial level on security issues.

COMMENTARY

Oct 14, 2005

Missile defense will define Japan-U.S. security alliance

The impasse about the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps air station at Futenma in Okinawa caused U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to cancel his forthcoming visit to Japan. So Rumsfeld, fed up with Japanese foot-dragging for more than a decade, will be going to China and South Korea, but not to Japan.

COMMENTARY

Sep 29, 2005

Toward a nuclear Japan?

The United States cannot stop nuclear proliferation, even though Japan and others will expect it to keep trying. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) has allowed North Korea and Iran to develop nuclear weapons on the sly. What will Japan conclude from this?

COMMENTARY

Jul 28, 2005

Whining won't ease 'burden'

Why should the U.S. ambassador to Japan have to spell out how much Japan benefits from its alliance with the United States? The reason is that Japan's leaders remain incompetent in explaining vital security issues to the Japanese public, and so take the easy way out by bleating about the so-called burden of hosting U.S. bases here.

COMMENTARY

May 23, 2005

Don't rely solely on America

NAGOYA -- For more than 400 years, Great Britain played the role of global offshore balancer. Believing that it had neither permanent allies nor permanent enemies, but only permanent interests, Britain avoided entanglement on the Continent. Shifting its weight as required to prevent any potentially hostile power from occupying the "low countries" on the opposite shore of the English Channel, Britain relied on global maritime power and astute diplomacy. This was an effective, low-cost strategy, which is why France called it "Perfidious Albion."

COMMENTARY

Apr 21, 2005

Australia's problem with ASEAN amity

During Australian Prime Minister John Howard's visit to Japan this week, Japan will be pressing him to sign the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), which is often referred to as a "nonaggression pact."

COMMENTARY

Apr 12, 2005

Lee should avoid Yasukuni

With tensions rising again across the Taiwan Strait, some in Japan seem to think that it might be timely for former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui to visit controversial Yasukuni Shrine, the memorial in Tokyo to Japan's war dead.

COMMENTARY

Feb 18, 2005

Blinders on a vital interest

In relation to Iran, Japan needs to get its priorities straight. Currently, Japan is spending only 1 percent of its gross domestic product on defense while living in a dangerous region. It is critical for Japan's economic and strategic security that the United States remain willing to protect Japan's sea routes from the Middle East.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 15, 2005

Notion of an 'independent' missile defense is snake oil

According to press reports, Japan intends to mount an "independent" missile defense so as not to violate a constitutional interpretation that prohibits Japan from engaging in collective self-defense. Thus Japan would refrain from shooting down missiles that pass over Japan but are targeted at "other countries," meaning the United States. Japan's political and bureaucratic leaders seem to think that such posturing is necessary to contain political controversy over missile defense. But the notion of "independent" missile defense is pure snake oil.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 17, 2004

The next move for Taiwan

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has stepped down from the leadership of his Democratic Progressive Party after the DPP and its more radical allies failed to gain a majority in the Dec. 11 parliamentary elections.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 2, 2004

Cracks visible in U.S.-Australia alliance

Could Australia's long-standing alliance with the United States rupture? It's not likely, but not unthinkable either. An Australian election looms, with security policy as a major issue. The Labor Party, out of power since 1996, is desperate for a win. The polls portend a close race.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 9, 2004

Washington is now free to give up on its East Asian allies

The United States recently announced that it will soon send to Iraq one of the two brigades of the Second Infantry Division (2ID) currently stationed in South Korea. There was virtually no consultation with Seoul, and the Pentagon is making no promises that these troops will ever go back. Now unconfirmed reports suggest that 2ID's remaining brigade may also go to Iraq next year. That would signify the withdrawal of virtually all U.S. ground forces from South Korea. What might all that mean for Japan?

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.

The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

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