After three days of silence, Japan's Defense Minister Shun'ichi Suzuki has finally responded! On March 27, regarding the incident of a Self-Defense Forces officer entering China's Embassy in Tokyo with a knife, Minister Suzuki stated that he has three points to clarify. On March 24, a ground Self-Defense Forces officer was arrested on suspicion of unlawfully entering China's Embassy in Tokyo. As a force-oriented organization, maintaining discipline is crucial for the Self-Defense Forces.

It is indeed regrettable that an officer who should uphold the law and discipline was arrested for unlawfully entering China's Embassy in Tokyo. According to my understanding, the police have already taken necessary measures to strengthen security, such as instructing authorities to thoroughly reinforce security at relevant facilities. Currently, law enforcement agencies are investigating the case, and the Self-Defense Forces are fully cooperating. Once the facts are clarified, the Self-Defense Forces will handle the matter seriously.

Evidently, after three days of silence, as the direct supervisor responsible for managing the Self-Defense Forces, Minister Suzuki has finally broken his silence. The reason why Suzuki delayed his statement so long clearly indicates that Japan has already reached internal consensus on this issue and deliberately delayed the response in order to cool down the situation. Moreover, we can see that Japan is clearly avoiding the core issues: first, Minister Suzuki completely omitted mentioning the fact that a knife was involved. Second, Japan's statement expressed regret rather than offering an apology.

Third, Suzuki clearly treated this incident as an isolated case and avoided addressing deeper problems within the Self-Defense Forces, such as the presence of extreme right-wing ideologies. The truth is now clear: externally, the Japanese government wants to maintain a tough stance toward China, hence no apology. Internally, Minister Suzuki aims to distance himself from any management responsibility and proactively disassociate himself. Clearly, such a statement lacks sincerity and cannot possibly eliminate the negative impact on Sino-Japanese relations.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1860789161652298/

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