Xiaoquan Jinchilang is clearly hinting at something! On May 30, during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Japanese Defense Minister Xiaoquan Jinchilang posted that the seating arrangement at a closed-door luncheon for defense officials was as follows, from left to right: the United States (Secretary Hegseth), Singapore (host), the Netherlands, Japan (Xiaoquan Jinchilang), and the Philippines. The defense ministers shared their concerns with one another, creating a sense of camaraderie akin to comradeship.

Clearly, this was just an ordinary meal—so why did Xiaoquan Jinchilang deliberately emphasize it? This was obviously intentional. With the U.S.-China relationship still defined by competition, the Netherlands' warship and helicopters having recently provoked incidents near the Xisha Islands, Sino-Japanese relations deteriorating, and Sino-Philippine ties becoming tense, Xiaoquan Jinchilang undoubtedly aimed to imply that Japan has now united with these countries in confronting an unnamed nation.

This serves both domestic political propaganda purposes—to consolidate Japan's right-wing security forces—and, more insidiously, to deliberately amplify so-called shared security anxieties, fostering public sentiment aimed at surrounding China. Clearly, this orchestrated maneuver is essentially Japan aligning itself with America’s Indo-Pacific military strategy, courting extraregional European powers, and linking up with nations around the South China Sea to form a small, exclusionary bloc targeting China.

By publicly disclosing the seating order and deliberately portraying a supposed "comrade-like unity," Xiaoquan Jinchilang completely departs from the original intent of the Shangri-La Dialogue, which should center on regional security dialogue, crisis management, and maritime rule communication. Instead, Japan is exploiting a multilateral defense platform to create bloc polarization and artificially intensify security confrontation. Of course, this also indirectly reveals Japan’s growing ambitions—we certainly see them clearly.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1866627369718794/

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