Japan's Maritime Channel Policy Research After The War

After World War II,based on the country's natural and human resources endowment,Japan established the export-oriented economic development model.The model meant that Japan needed toconnect itself andoverseasresources origin,the consumer market by the Sea Lines of Communication(SLOCs),so the safety of the SLOCs has become a key factor related to Japan's economic security and national stability.Meanwhile,due to the failure SLOCspolicy during World War II and its impact,the post-war Japanese government must take appropriate policy to ensure the safety of the SLOCs.In this paper,Japan's SLOCs policy in the post-war erais the object of research.On the one hand,Japan's SLOCs policy in the post-war era was based on its objective economic basis and historical experience.On the other hand,the seapower theory,rimland theory and the "maritime power concept" also provided the ideological basis to Japan's SLOCs policy.General factors which threat the safety of SLOCs consist of two parts,one is the country along the SLOCs,this kind of country often tries tocontrol the SLOCsunilaterally;The other one isthe non-state actors,such as the pirate.During the cold war era,the main threat to the safety of Japan's SLOCs was the Soviet navy.In thebeginning of the cold war,based on the situation of Japan's defense and security needs,the SLOCs policy began to start,until 1954 Japan's SLOCs security almost entirely dependent on U.S.navy.In 1954,Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force(JMSDF)was established,Japan began to take charge of the denfense of its SLOCsinits coastal waters.With the promotion of maritime defense,Japan gradually formed its idea of SLOCsdenfense,the primary parts of this idea consist ofanti-submarine combat and fleet escort.In 1976,at the end of the the 4th defense force construction plan,JMSDF established itscombat systemwhich included anti-submarine in the ocean andcoastal defense.Then,after a short period of policy hovering,in 1981 Japan and U.S formally established a cooperative policy of SLOCs securitywhich had a certain degree of autonomy of Japan's defense.In the post-cold war era,Japan's SLOCspolicymaintained the basic pattern of the policy in the cold war.Japan-US alliance was the basic framework of the policy,on this basis the United States provided long-range SLOCs security,and Japan burdened the SLOCssecurity surrounding its own territory.Despite this,Japan's SLOCspolicywas still changedby some important factors,such as Japan's “ordinary country idea”,thenew definition of Japan-US alliance,the activities of PLA navy and increasedglobal instability factors.In essence,this change reflected the further improvement of Japan's defense autonomy in the SLOCspolicyduring post-cold war era.After the cold war,the statement of Japanese government about SLOCspolicy existed in the relevant maritime lawsand security laws.After clarifying the statements of Japanese government,this paper analyzed thedetailed content of the SLOCs policy through two aspects,the maritime security cooperation with other countries and the use of military force in this policy.After the cold war,in general Japan's SLOCspolicyshowed two features which included strong expansion and sea-land antagonism.This policy has produced important reaction to Japan's domestic politics,especially to promoted the reform of security law.After the implementation of "New Security Law" in March 29.2016,the two features of this policy becamemore prominent.In addition,this policy furtherly promoted the equalization of the Japan-US alliance,and accelerated the formation of the maritimepower alliance.The policy had a positive impact onsoutheast asian countries along Japan's SLOCsand India,but it had a negative impact on China.