COMMENTARY / Perspectives

What a Japanese diplomat learned from 9/11

The terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, diverted Washington's attention away from China

The al-Qaida attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, spurred major U.S. initiatives against terrorism at home and abroad. | BRAD RICKERBY / REUTERS

By Kuni Miyake
Contributing writer

Sep 11, 2021

Even 20 years later, people still ask me where I was on Sept. 11, 2001.

After serving as director for Japan-U.S. security treaty affairs in Tokyo, I had been stationed at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing since October 2000 as an Arabic language officer. On Sept. 11, 2001, I was in my Beijing apartment with my wife watching CNN’s live coverage of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

I was shocked, but hardly taken by surprise.

What a Japanese diplomat learned from 9/11

The terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, diverted Washington's attention away from China

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