A Study On The "Independent Foreign Policy" Of Hatoyama Ichiro Cabinet

During this period,Hatoyama Ichiro carried out a policy which was called "independent diplomacy" towards the United States.His policy towards the United States was different from the former Yoshida’s "one-sided diplomacy" policy.Compared with Yoshida’s "one-sided" foreign policy towards the United States,Hatoyama’s "independent foreign policy" was mainly reflected in Japan-US relations,Japan-Soviet relations and Sino-Japanese relations.In terms of Japan-US relations,the Hatoyama Cabinet changed Yoshida’s foreign policy,which was basically subordinated to the United States,and began to put forward views and opinions to the United States in line with Japan’s national interests.After the establishment of the Hatoyama Ichiro Cabinet,facing the new situation in Japan,the United States formulated a new policy document to Japan---Document No.5516 / 1 of the National Security Council.According to the document,the United States implemented a new policy to Japan,which relied mainly on win-over measures supplemented by suppression.The United States eased its control over Japan and gave Japan a certain degree of "autonomy".In terms of politics and diplomacy,the United States strongly supported Japan,and the conservative political forces continued to be in power,limiting and suppressing the development of left-wing political forces in Japan.In terms of economy and trade,the United States had increased its economic assistance to Japan,showing the advantages of capitalist economic system.In terms of economic prosperity and material wealth to Japanese people,the United States attracted Japanese people,especially intellectuals and social elites who yearned for the United States.In terms of military security,the United States supported Japan to develop appropriate defense forces.On the basis of the new U.S.policy towards Japan,the Hatoyama Ichiro Cabinet proposed to the United States the request to amend the old unequal Japan-US security treaty,which was unimaginable in the Yoshida Cabinet.After the establishment of the Hatoyama Cabinet,although the United States implemented a new policy towards Japan and gave Japan a certain degree of "autonomy",the "independent foreign policy" implemented by the Hatoyama Cabinet improved Sino-Japanese relations,especially Sino-Japanese economic and trade relations,and this caused the dissatisfaction of the United States.Consequently,during the period of the Hatoyama Cabinet,the progress of Japan-US relations in general was relatively slow.But,the Japan-US relations in this period was of great significance.Because Japan and the United States shared common interests in fighting against the Soviet Union and maintaining their own national security,the Japan-US alliance was maintained.The Hatoyama Ichiro Cabinet obtained the guarantee that the United States agreed to amend the old Japan-US security treaty at an appropriate time,which signified the end of the second phase,thus the post-war Japan-US relations changed from absolute inequality to relative equality.In terms of Japan-Soviet relations,the Hatoyama Cabinet changed the foreign policy of the Yoshida Cabinet that was once extremely hostile to the Soviet Union and had no contact with the Soviet Union.During the period of Hatoyama Ichiro,Japan and the Soviet Union held talks in London and Moscow on normalization of state relations at the ambassadorial,ministerial and head of government levels on the premise of the need of common national interests and the tolerance and acquiescence of the United States.During the negotiation of normalization of Japan-Soviet relations,Japan and the Soviet Union were faced with such problems as Northern Territory,accession to the United Nations,release of detained Japanese soldiers,fishery and trade,etc.Due to the huge differences between Japan and the Soviet Union on the northern territory issue,the northern territory issue had not been solved so far.However,with his farsighted political wisdom,extraordinary political courage,ruling ability to overcome all difficulties,humanitarian spirit of life,and noble character of national interests above personal interests,Hatoyama withheld the huge political pressure from all aspects,obeyed the needs of the fundamental interests of the country,broke the shackles of the old thinking and old system,and dared to walk on a new path.On the premise of shelving the northern territory issue,he personally visited the Soviet Union and concluded the Declaration on the cooperation between Japan and the Soviet Union,thus establishing the normalization of national,political,diplomatic,economic and trade relations between Japan and the Soviet Union.After the normalization of the relations between Japan and the Soviet Union,the Soviet Union fulfilled its commitment to support Japan’s entry into the United Nations,and Japan successfully achieved its goal of returning to the international community.In terms of Chinese-Japanese relations,the Hatoyama Cabinet adhered to the same policy of "political and economic separation" as that of the Yoshida Cabinet.Without the tacit consent of the United States,Hatoyama dared not and couldn’t visit China in person to realize the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations.In the period of Hatoyama Ichiro,the political and diplomatic relations between China and Japan had been improved to a certain extent,and the political exchanges and exchanges of personnel between China and Japan were higher in both quantity and level as compared to that of Yoshida Shigeru’s period.Different from Yoshida’s negative attitude towards Sino-Japanese economic and trade activities,Hatoyama had a positive attitude towards Sino-Japanese economic and trade activities.Sino-Japanese economic and trade relations had been greatly improved and further developed.During the period of Hatoyama,China and Japan signed the third Sino-Japanese non-governmental trade agreement,which was the fourth agreement between China and Japan in the 1950 s.The implementation of the non-governmental economic and trade agreement was the best.The economic and trade activities between China and Japan reached the peak in the 1950 s.The main reasons why Hatoyama implemented the "independent foreign policy" are as follows: 1.in order to achieve the goal of joining the United Nations and returning to the international community;2.to provide overseas raw materials and commodity sales markets for the recovery and development of Japan’s national economy after the Second World War;3.to adapt to the environment of the international situation after the Second World War;4.to adapt to the strong anti American wave among Japanese citizens;5.United States had adopted a tolerant and tacit attitude towards the "independent foreign policy" implemented by Hatoyama Ichiro.The "independent foreign policy" implemented by Hatoyama Ichiro had achieved great success.In terms of political diplomacy,through the implementation of the policy of "independent diplomacy",the absolutely unequal relations between Japan and the United States began to move towards relative equality after the Second World War.The Soviet Union supported Japan’s entry into the United Nations,which removed the biggest obstacle to Japan’s accession to the United Nations,and Japan successfully achieved its goal of returning to the international community.In terms of economy and trade,the biggest challenge and problem Japan confronted after the war was how to restore and develop the national economy and improve the people’s living standards.The "independent foreign policy" had successfully normalized the relations between Japan and the Soviet Union and expanded the economic and trade scale between China and Japan.Japan had developed and expanded the markets of the Soviet Union and China as well.In terms of economic and trade,Japan,the Soviet Union and China had formed a situation of complementary advantages and mutual benefits and a close economic and trade relationship,which had provided a long-term stable guarantee for the recovery of Japan’s national economy,the development of overseas raw materials and the expansion of commodity sales market after the war.Although the "independent foreign policy" of Hatoyama had achieved great success,it also had some limitations.Although the "independent foreign policy" of Hatoyama Ichiro had taken the first step in changing the post-war Japan-US relations from absolute inequality to relative equality,and had shown a certain degree of "autonomy" in improving and developing the relations between Japan and the Soviet Union and China,it was fundamentally an "independent foreign policy" with limitations,and its essence was not clear.It was a policy of "independent diplomacy" at the premise of maintaining the Japan-US alliance.All diplomatic activities carried out by Hatoyama Ichiro’s cabinet were done on the basis of the tolerance and acquiescence of the United States and within the scope that the United States could allow.The "independent foreign policy" of the Hatoyama Cabinet had neither changed the basic Japan’s diplomatic activities under the Japan-US alliance,which was basically subject to the requirements of the United States in international disputes,and always belonged to "a member of the free world",nor made Japan’s diplomacy break away from the track of the Japan-US alliance and the control of the United States.It was the biggest limitation of " independent foreign policy".Another limitation of "independent foreign policy" was that while realizing the normalization of Japan-Soviet relations,Japan intentionally or unintentionally ignored the requirements of new China,for Japan could not realize the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations while realizing the normalization of Japan-Soviet relations.This was caused by many reasons.There was a huge gap between China and the Soviet Union in terms of national strength and postwar international status in the period of the Hatoyama Ichiro Cabinet,and there was also the opposition and interference from the United States.