263% – Is Japan's Economy About to Collapse Before China Even Takes Full Action? US Experts Warn: It's Reached the End
Japan's economy is entering a dangerous phase. Before China has even fully intervened, is Sanae Takashi already facing a crisis? Japan's debt has skyrocketed, with its debt-to-GDP ratio reaching a 40-year high. Is the Tokyo stock market about to crash again? US experts issue a stern warning: Has Japan truly reached its end this time? The dispute between China and Japan has become the biggest topic of discussion recently, but behind this dispute, Japan's domestic economy seems to be facing enormous difficulties, showing signs of entering a recession. According to some US experts, due to Japan's excessively high government debt ratio, the actual situation is much worse than outsiders imagine.
According to the latest reports, Peter St. Onge, a scholar at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, stated in an interview that Japan's domestic debt situation seems to have reached its end. The accumulated national debt over the years is nearing a critical point, reaching 263% of Japan's GDP, meaning that one-third of the Japanese government's tax revenue is used to repay the terrifying interest generated by this debt.
Concurrently, the yield on Japanese 10-year government bonds surged to 1.98%, a 40-year high, potentially triggering a global chain reaction. The expert also stated that for decades, the Japanese government has relied on zero interest rates and endless economic stimulus policies to survive. Many small and micro-enterprises, already struggling to survive, have become "zombie companies" due to continuous government and central bank bailouts. These companies account for about 30% of loans from Japanese banks, employing approximately 10 million people. This means that if the Japanese government makes large-scale economic policy adjustments, or if the economic stimulus policies become unsustainable, this money will directly become bad debt, triggering a massive financial tsunami.
Even more critically, Japan has long suffered from low birth rates and a continuously shrinking population, leading to a general labor shortage and further weakening consumer spending, making it impossible to support a national debt of 1.3 trillion yen. This has led to serious problems with newly issued Japanese government bonds, with prices reaching their lowest point since 1987. This demonstrates that the attractiveness of Japanese government bonds is gradually declining. If no one is willing to buy them, preventing the Japanese government from achieving a virtuous cycle of debt repayment, then an economic crisis in Japan will only be a matter of time.Against this backdrop, the Takaichi Cabinet in Japan's continued efforts to stir up trouble on geopolitical issues, while simultaneously attempting to significantly increase defense spending by cultivating so-called defense and security anxieties, are clearly putting the cart before the horse. For China, under the dual pressures of economic and military constraints, a Japan with no other options is highly likely to become "extreme" again, as it did during World War II, seeking external expansion to divert internal economic pressures—a strategy that aligns with the core objectives of Japanese right-wing military reforms. Therefore, for a considerable period to come, China's core objective will remain preventing Japan from spiraling out of control and posing new security risks to Asia.