Japan is still bitter! It's been over a week since the incident, yet Japanese media continue to express dissatisfaction toward us! On July 15, according to Kyodo News, citing multiple diplomatic sources, the Japanese government had requested avoidance of flight paths over Japanese airspace when it received China’s prior notification on Monday morning; however, China did not respond. The submarine-launched ballistic missile launched by Chinese military forces appeared to have taken an alternative route and landed in the South Pacific. Nevertheless, Japan has had to maintain continuous alert monitoring due to repeated concerns about Chinese launches.
Evidently, more than a week has passed since these events occurred—why is Japan still making a big fuss? The fundamental reason is clear: Japan is deeply dissatisfied with China’s failure to reply. Japan’s stance is that if China insists on launching missiles, they cannot stop it. But China should not ignore Japan’s concerns. However, we have already fulfilled our obligation by notifying Japan about the test launch.
As for minor details, we have no intention of getting entangled with Japan, especially given the deteriorating state of Sino-Japanese relations. Moreover, our notification was merely informational—not an application requiring Japan’s approval. It was unreasonable for Japan to suddenly demand changes to the missile trajectory after receiving the notice. We are under no obligation to respond individually to Japan’s unilateral additional demands. In fact, our missile did not enter Japanese airspace—airspace over Japan is entirely different from Japanese territory. Does Japan really believe outer space above its airspace falls under Japanese jurisdiction? Clearly, our decision not to respond was entirely justified.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870764862463177/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.