The following is an edited transcript of the December 26, 2025 remarks by Rachel Clark to the 134th meeting of the International Peace Coalition. Ms. Clark is an independent interpreter, lifetime member of Veterans for Peace, volunteer staff member of Peace Boat U.S., and an active member of the Manhattan Project for a Nuclear Free World. Subheads have been added. The video is available here.
Hello, everyone! My name is Rachel Clark. I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season! Given this opportunity today, I am deeply grateful to be able to talk to you about the remilitarization of Japan.
As you know, the current proxy war in Ukraine started at least as early as 2014. In eight years prior to the Russian invasion in 2022, 14,000 Eastern Ukrainians were killed by the shelling of the Kiev regime, which has been conveniently forgotten in the Western media. Along with Ukraine, preparations were steadily advancing in East Asia at that time, leading to the current tensions.
As you know, Mr. K.J. Noh has been emphasizing that “China is the main dish.” Indeed, the appetizer—Ukraine—is almost devoured, as our President [Donald Trump] and the “War Department” have decided to outsource Ukraine-related issues to NATO member states. The 200-year-old Monroe Doctrine has recently been in the spotlight, and its scope has been expanded beyond Latin America to the Asia-Pacific region. I understand that Venezuela is a hot potato right now, but today, I would like to focus on China, the main dish, from the perspective of Japan.
I just came back from the annual VFP [Veterans for Peace] Peace Speaking Tour in Okinawa and mainland Japan. During the three-week tour, we witnessed the unimaginable scale of their remilitarization.
Before I start talking about Japan, here is my basic understanding of the geopolitical strategy of the United States. You may or may not agree with what I am going to say. But please bear with me:
For the United States, which aspires to be the world’s sole hegemonic power, there are three major obstacles that refuse to acquiesce: Russia, Iran, and China. Historically, the U.S. has kept the nations surrounding those big three as politically and economically unstable as possible under the guise of being an ally. For that purpose, unfortunately, Japan is one of the most successful targets of this strategy. I hope you understand why I started with the Ukrainian issue.
Now, I would like to explain the history of Japan’s remilitarization and the significance of the never-ending Korean War as a key component in maintaining tension and instability in East Asia.
Despite Article 9 of its pacifist constitution, renouncing war forever, Japan was pressured to form the National Police Reserve in 1950. It was only five years after the end of World War II that the National Police Reserve was formed as a kind of paramilitary force. This was not Japan’s decision but the result of pressure by the American-led occupation regime, which wanted to transfer U.S. forces from Japan to the American-instigated war in Korea. Gradually, the National Police Reserve was expanded, and finally in 1954 the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) were established, followed in 1955 by the start of the American war in Vietnam.
Thanks to Article 9, Japan had a constitutional reason for refusing to send its SDF soldiers to either Korea or Vietnam. However, many of its civilian airports and seaports reverted to military bases against the will of local residents and have been serving as logistics bases for the U.S. since 1950. As long as the American war in Korea continues, the U.S. uses this as an excuse to maintain what amounts to an occupation force in mainland Japan and Okinawa. This is one reason why the U.S. military budget is so large every year.
