By Fu Honghong and Zhao Ying
付紅紅、趙英
Recently, Germany participated in a JMSDF-led Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force exercise (ANNUALEX 2021). The German frigate FGS Bayern (F217) visited Japan again nearly 20 years later. In this regard, Japan has attached great importance, intending to woo more European countries for defense cooperation and seek to achieve the goal of being a political and military power.
日前，德國參加了日本主導的多國海上聯合軍演；德國海軍護衛艦“巴伐利亞”號時隔近20年再次到訪日本。對此，日本極為重視，意圖拉攏更多歐洲防務合作伙伴、謀求實現政治軍事大國的目標。
Japan and Germany have accelerated their defense cooperation in the context of their respective "Indo-Pacific Concepts." In 2016, the Shinzo Abe’s administration took the lead in proposing Japan's "free and open Indo-Pacific" concept, aiming to shape the order of the Indo-Pacific region and improve Japan's international political and military status. Considering its own limited strength and the relative decline of the US power, Japan has attached great importance to wooing other countries to carry out defense cooperation to strut in borrowed plumes. Since German frigate Bayernhas departed from Germany in August, Japan has organized three joint naval drills with the frigate involved in the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and waters off the Pacific coast south of Tokyo. As hyped up by the Japanese media, another European power has become its companion following the UK and France.
日德加速推進防衛合作，是在兩國各自“印太構想”的背景下實施的。2016年，安倍晉三政府率先提出日本版“自由開放的印太戰略”，其主要目標是塑造印太地區秩序，提高日本國際政治軍事地位?？紤]到自身力量有限以及美國實力相對衰落，日本非常重視拉攏其他國家開展防務合作，以壯大聲勢。自“巴伐利亞”號8月離開德國本土以來，日本先后組織艦艇在阿拉伯海、印度洋和東京以南的太平洋海域與其進行了3次聯合演習。日本媒體進行了大肆宣傳，渲染繼英法之后又一個歐洲大國加入了自己的“朋友圈”。
As for Germany, the cooperation with Japan can allow it to effectively intervene in the affairs of the Indo-Pacific region and enhance its influence therein. As the economic and political importance of the region keeps rising, the German government issued the “Germany-Europe-Asia: Shaping the 21st Century Together”, a policy guidelines on the Indo-Pacific region in September 2020, stating that the development of international order in the 21st century is up to the Indo-Pacific region. It also indicated that Germany has defined the Indo-Pacific region as a priority of its foreign policy. Therefore, Germany, which kept on reflecting on history and was more cautious about developing defense relations with Japan and sending troops overseas for decades after WWII, has also sent warship to conduct joint exercises with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
對德國而言，與日本合作可有效介入印太地區事務，提升其在該地區的影響力。隨著印太地區的經濟和政治重要性不斷上升，德國于2020年9月發布《德國-歐洲-亞洲：共同塑造21世紀》的印太政策指導文件，指出未來的國際秩序將取決于印太地區，德國將印太地區定義為德國外交政策的優先議程。因此，戰后數十年來持續反思歷史、對與日本發展防務關系和海外派兵較為謹慎的德國，也派出艦艇不遠萬里與日本海上自衛隊進行聯合演習。
Japan has continued to expand the scope of its defense cooperation partners, under the disguise of which it aims to turn into political and military power. However, compared to other countries like Britain and France, Germany is more rational and cautious, laying emphasis on maximizing its own interests in multi-party games, rather than tend to provoke troubles or be ready to be a tool. Although Japan and Germany are getting closer in the field of defense, it is difficult for the two parties to truly make concerted efforts considering the real needs of each party.
日本不斷擴大防務合作伙伴范圍，這背后是追求政治軍事大國的野心。但相較于英法等國，德國更加理性和謹慎，注重在多方博弈中將自身利益最大化，而不輕易“挑起事端”或甘心“被當槍使”。日德在防務領域雖不斷走近，但考慮到彼此的真正需要，這種合作難以真正“同心”。
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