(Luxing Air Force fighter jets painted with Japanese and Australian flags)
Regarding the first exercise of the Luftwaffe fighter jets in Japan, Japan Airlines Chief of Staff was very excited, claiming that "this move has great historical significance." It has to be said that Japan, a defeated country in World War II, talked about the "historical significance" with another defeated country in Germany, not only made people feel "splied" in their hearts... while Gerhartz responded that he hoped to strengthen military cooperation with Japan.
Recently, a series of small actions about Germany in the Asia-Pacific have triggered many discussions in China. The outside world generally interprets it as "Japan-Germany Combination" - the return of the Axis of Evil Powers, or Germany will maintain normalization of military affairs in the Asia-Pacific region, disrupt regional security, etc. plus the argument that Scholz government "decouples" from China is in its domestic hustle and bustle, and Germany's movements in the Asia-Pacific are regarded as extremely meaningful to target China.
It is worth noting that from a certain perspective, if Germany can really exert "extra influence" in the Asia-Pacific region, it will be the incompetence of the United States. Considering the current situation in Eastern Europe, the Berlin has made great trouble in the Asia-Pacific region, which is not so much aimed at a major Eastern country, but is more like a move to complete the German security policy as soon as possible. It is not only openly cooperating with the US global competition strategy, but it actually comes over to discuss arms business with Tokyo.
It is not difficult to find from the relevant press release that revolves around the motivations of Japan and Germany's military exercises. The Schultz government has almost completely copied the wording of the US military operations in the Asia-Pacific region, without any new ideas . In addition, the so-called first military exercise after World War II of Japan and Germany was nothing more than three German "Typhoon" fighters and three Japanese F-2 fighters. Because the content of the joint exercise is too simple, Japanese media have little to report except for the commander of the Luftwaffe flying to Japan in person.
And Gerharz said in an interview with Japanese reporters that Japan and Germany are partners with common values and hope to "find out in which areas can the two countries deepen cooperation" through talks with self-defense force officials. Obviously, Gerharz's focus is in the second half of the sentence.
We know that under the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, German Chancellor Scholz took the lead in sounding the "crypto trumpet" in Europe and prepared 100 billion euros for national defense construction. However, Polish and Germany thought of going together. Warsaw began to purchase arms crazily, and even issued "10 billion orders" to South Korea, causing huge shocks in Europe. Given Poland's experience of being "divided up three times" in history, it is not difficult to imagine that Poland's appearance of preparing for war not only attracted the attention of the K-Gong Palace, but also caused great insecurity in Germany.
Faced with multiple crises, Germany must not relax its national defense construction. Schultz days ago claimed that Germany is ready to become the "leader of European security" and unilaterally put France aside "the other carriage in the EU ". Poland locked in South Korea in terms of arms, and Germany naturally targeted South Korea's "number one competitor" - Japan.
In short, Berlin's "cow brags loudly" may have expanded some regional influence to a certain extent, but it does not have much substantive significance at the military level. I believe that in the near future, Japan and Germany will reach a series of arms deals, which will inevitably attract the attention of the United States and South Korea, and new good shows will be staged next.
