Germany, Japan should mind their historical pits

At a conference of the German armed forces on Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: "As the most populous country with the greatest economic power and as a country in the middle of the continent, our army must become the cornerstone of conventional defense in Europe: the best-equipped force in Europe", citing a threat from Russia.

"The core task of the Bundeswehr (Germany's armed forces) is to defend freedom in Europe," he said, adding that all other jobs had to take a secondary role.

In response to the conflict in Ukraine, Germany's coalition government and the conservative alliance agreed on a €100 billion ($107 billion) boost in military funding in May to make up for decades of chronic underfunding in the country's defense. Subsequent financial support for the Bundeswehr was written into the German Constitution. And the country is also planning to raise its military spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product.

Like Germany, Japan is also trying to increase its military spending.

Both Japan and Germany are taking advantage of the geopolitical tensions fanned by the United States to get rid of their constitutional restrictions in that regard.

Given the two countries' advanced manufacturing and technology and economic powers, it will only be a matter of time for them to have the best-equipped forces in Europe and Asia respectively.

It is the US that is taking advantage of the two nations' long-term desire to normalize their militaries to push them to the front to contain Russia and China respectively. It is the US that is shaking the foundation of the postwar order by conniving with the two countries to realize their militarization, which will have dire and far-reaching consequences on global and regional affairs.

What Germany and Japan should do is concentrate on being green development leaders and promoters of world peace.