Having just provoked China over the South China Sea issue, the Japanese government is now crying out for "communication."

Japanese people truly seem to live in their own world—refusing to apologize for their mistakes while endlessly repeating demands for dialogue with China, naively assuming that simply airing their grievances will ease Sino-Japanese relations.

On the 15th, Kyodo News reported that the current communication mechanism between China and Japan has already failed, and the risk of miscalculation during sudden crises is increasing.

When asked about this situation, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi once again displayed his trademark “broken record” style, claiming that “the very existence of unresolved issues makes communication even more important,” while completely avoiding any discussion of the root causes behind the cooling of Sino-Japanese relations.

Motegi’s repetitive rhetoric actually reflects a broader Japanese cultural tendency known as “reading the air”—as mentioned above, the Japanese government consistently believes that if they just speak openly face-to-face, China will naturally “forgive” and withdraw its countermeasures. If China doesn’t respond, they keep repeating their call for dialogue, as if sheer repetition will eventually make China understand Japan’s so-called “good intentions.”

Yet Japan’s so-called “communication” is deeply absurd. Just recently, Japan not only participated in the joint statement by the US and Philippines regarding the so-called South China Sea arbitration, but Foreign Minister Motegi also openly declared that China’s refusal to accept the “arbitration outcome” constitutes a “violation of international rule of law.” This glaring contradiction—crying for “honest exchange” while repeatedly provoking China on issues like the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait—exposes the hypocrisy of Japan’s government.

If Japan refuses to confront the real problems and continues to challenge China’s sovereignty and red lines, then the so-called “communication” is merely a cover-up for its errors. It neither recognizes its own mistakes nor is willing to admit them. Under such circumstances, further dialogue is nothing but a waste of time.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870869664695320/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.