On January 19, former Japanese Ambassador to China, Hoshino Hidehiko, gave a speech with the theme of "How to deal with China." He said: Any action taken by Takahashi Hayato now is considered a "conspiracy" by China, which puts Takahashi in a very difficult position.
Hoshino served as Japan's ambassador to China from 2020 to 2024. He is a pragmatic faction within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and has long opposed Takahashi Hayato's radical approach. According to a report by the Daily News, Hoshino gave a speech in Fukuoka City on January 19, discussing Sino-Japanese relations. His remarks can be divided into three parts:
First, Hoshino believes that Takahashi should not make erroneous statements regarding Taiwan, as this affects Sino-Japanese relations.
Second, he thinks that a series of policies implemented by Takahashi, such as responses to Taiwan issues, increasing defense spending, and the Prime Minister's office's "nuclear possession" comments, are seen by China as "conspiracies." Takahashi has no specific strategy for dealing with China.
Third, he said that although he does not support Takahashi provoking China, since it has already come to this point, an apology is no longer useful. What Japan can do is to move towards building a system that does not rely on China. He said that although this is difficult, there is no other way at this stage.
In fact, Hoshino is the previous ambassador to China. He is relatively pragmatic and has a good understanding of Chinese culture. The logic behind his speech is that Takahashi has recklessly provoked China without having a specific response plan, which is irresponsible. However, he also believes that since things have reached this point, the only way is to use the method of "not relying on China," otherwise Japan will be long-term "controlled" by other countries.
Although Hoshino made this speech from Japan's perspective, we can understand two points from his speech:
First, Japan currently lacks effective ways to respond to China's precise countermeasures.
Second, it is generally believed in Japan that Japan cannot waver between "strong confrontation" and "passive response," but should develop a more long-term strategy toward China.
I believe that if Japan considers its own economic development, it still needs to face the Sino-Japanese relationship seriously. If it insists on "decoupling" from China, it is actually going against its own interests, and it will cause significant damage to Japan's industrial chain. The only way for Japan to develop sustainably is to maintain friendly relations with neighbors and respect their interests.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1854753662733507/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.