Instead of hyping a 'China threat' Japan should just look within

The 2023 defense white paper recently released by the Japanese government says Japan plans to increase defense spending to 43.5 trillion yen ($302.86 billion) for the next five years to "fundamentally strengthen its defense forces" while labeling China as Japan's "unprecedented greatest strategic challenge", hyping up a "China threat" and grossly interfering in China's internal affairs.

China is committed to peaceful development and pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. China's strengthening of its national defense and armed forces to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests is justified and beyond reproach.

By making a fuss over China's normal military buildup and playing up China's "increasingly active attempts and activities to unilaterally change the status quo through force", Japan is fabricating the lie of "China's military threat". It is Japan that has repeatedly attempted to change the status quo of the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. In the Asia-Pacific, a certain country outside the region frequently sends ships and planes to flex its military muscle and unilaterally change the status quo.

The Taiwan question is purely China's internal matter. From stating that "anything that happens to Taiwan is something that happens to Japan" to the recent claim by a senior Japanese official that "Japan is very likely to provide defense equipment or logistical support to Taiwan", Japan is grossly interfering in China's internal affairs and undermining the political foundation of China-Japan relations.

Japan's positioning of China as "the greatest strategic challenge "reveals its wrong perception. Only by abandoning the zero-sum confrontational mentality of beggar-thy-neighbor and establishing a correct understanding of China can Japan bring bilateral relations back on the right track. By playing up a "China threat", Japan is just finding an excuse for its own military expansion. Japan has also followed the US policy, cooperating with it in provoking troubles on issues concerning China's core interests, and pushing NATO eastward to the Asia-Pacific.

Any trick by Japan to play up a "China threat" or seek an excuse for military expansion will not deceive the world. Japan should instead reflect on its history of aggression, stop interfering in China's internal affairs and harming China's interests, and win the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community with a responsible attitude and concrete actions.