Leaders of the two traditional East Asia rivals will meet to discuss a number of security and other pressing issues sometime in 2025.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, on his first trip to China since assuming the post in October, sounded positive after meetings with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, saying the talks were “very candid” and wide-ranging.
“I feel we were able to build a personal relationship that would lead to the future,” he told reporters in the Chinese capital.
Wang agreed to visit Japan next year for high-level economic dialogue, including cooperation on the environment, energy conservation, and health and nursing care. Japan announced an easing of visa requirements for Chinese visitors following China’s recent decision to allow Japanese to enter without a visa.
Japan has revamped its approach to defense in response to Chinese actions in recent years, boosting military spending and shifting away from a principle of self-defense. Earlier this year, Japan protested when a Chinese military plane flew into Japan’s airspace, while in the summer, a Chinese survey ship sailed into Japanese territorial waters.
Japan and East Asia
For a brief period in the 1930s and 1940s, Japan was the unquestioned master of East Asia. Almost the entire Western half of the Pacific Rim was under Japanese sway. But those heady days came to a crashing halt in 1945, with defeat in World War II. Since then, Japan has been little more than a pawn among larger powers such as China, North Korea, and the United States.
China is on the naughty list in most world capitals. Its aggressive stance in the South China Sea and its ties with rogue nations like Iran and North Korea have isolated China from most of the world.
Although China is not on the nice list in Tokyo, it is probably not on the naughty list either. Japan is involved in a longstanding border dispute with Russia over the northern Kuril Islands, but Japan’s territorial interests to the south are negligible.
Furthermore, a nation with a checkered diplomatic past like Japan cannot rightly criticize other nations for their choice of company. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
These two nations are traditional enemies. The imperial Japanese heyday of the 1930s and 1940s was partially built on the brutal exploitation of Chinese people, an exploitation the Japanese have sought to downplay, much to the chagrin of China. So, there is work to be done before Japan and China are true allies.
North Korea has repeatedly threatened Japan and is a serious threat to the security of this island nation. Several times, North Korea has tested ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets in Japan. The country has limited armed forces and most likely would not be able to defend itself against a bully like North Korea.
The United States is another traditional rival. Japan fought the United States for control of the Pacific basin and lost decisively. That deep wound still has not entirely healed. As late as 2020, the United States planned to move most of its military assets from Japan to Guam. However, the Chinese and North Korean aggression put those plans on hold.
Contractors in Japan
Politics in Japan is complex. Contractor duties in Japan, however, are relatively straightforward. Contractors are largely immune from politics, a trait that makes contractor deployment a very popular option in places like Japan.
If anything, contractors are apolitical. They do not count in official troop deployment figures, so they are not caught in “bring the boys home” political movements in Washington. For the same reason, local residents who are wary of American imperialists are at least ambivalent toward contractors.
The aforementioned straightforward duties include weapons and systems maintenance, facility security, and emergency response.
In response to political concerns, the United States has transferred some military assets from Japan, leaving its forces there short-staffed. As a result, these forces are even more dependent on advanced weapons systems that give them a firepower advantage in any possible conflict.
Many private military contractors carry screwdrivers and laptops instead of machine guns and hand grenades. Contractors maintain weapons systems so armed forces in the field can take maximum advantage of them.
As for facility security, many regular servicemembers believe that guard duty and MP duty are punishment duties. However, many private military contractors are former law enforcement officers. Maintaining security is in their blood. They protect and serve.
The downsized military forces in Japan also accentuate the need for an emergency response team. It’s unlikely that a North Korean army will float across the Strait of Japan and make landfall near an American military base. But it could happen. If it does, private military contractors are available for defensive purposes. American law limits private military contractors to defensive and other combat support operations.
Injury Compensation Available
Construction and security contractors often sustain deployment-related injuries. That injury could be a trauma injury, like a fall, or an occupational disease, like hearing loss. The same basic procedure applies in both situations.
Claims Examiners initially review injury claims. These individuals are not paid insurance employees, but they know that insurance company premiums fund their paychecks. The more claims they approve, the more these profits decline, and the more their jobs are at risk.
So, Claims Examiners often deny claims on the merits, frequently citing the reasonably necessary medical bill requirement. “Reasonable” is a very subjective term that means different things to different people.
Additionally, they often deny benefits before they examine the application. Strict time and reporting deadlines apply in these cases. A missed deadline or an improperly filed form makes it easy for insurance company lawyers to deny claims without addressing their merits.
Claims that survive the first-look stage usually do not fare much better at a mediation settlement conference. A mediator reviews the paperwork, usually the medical bills, and meets with both sides. However, these negotiations are not court-supervised, which means there is no duty to negotiate in good faith. Therefore, instead of negotiating and compromising, insurance companies usually make take-it-or-leave-it offers that are not anywhere close to fair.
At this point, a Defense Base Act lawyer gets involved and prepares for an appeal hearing before an ALJ. For all intents and purposes, an ALJ hearing is like a trial. Attorneys can introduce evidence, challenge evidence, and make legal arguments. Furthermore, although they may not be completely independent, ALJs definitely are not one-sided.
So, the insurance company knows it is in for a fair fight. As a result, many claims were settled before the hearing. These settlements usually include money for economic losses, such as lost wages and medical bills.
For more information about DBA benefits, contact Barnett, Lerner, Karsen, Frankel & Castro, P.A.