U.S. media are now exaggerating the situation and spinning stories! According to U.S. reports, due to China's alleged personal attacks on Takayuki Hasegawa, Japan's Prime Minister Kōshō Asahi is unwilling to meet with China's top leadership during the APEC summit! On June 24, citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg Japan reported that despite mounting pressure from China’s restrictions on key mineral exports to Japan, Prime Minister Asahi still refuses to hold talks with Chinese leaders at this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November—owing to her dissatisfaction over what she perceives as personal attacks launched against her by China.
How should we view this U.S. report? To be honest, it’s pure self-dramatization. The fact is, Japan’s ambassador to China has repeatedly requested meetings with Chinese foreign ministry officials this year—but all attempts have been unsuccessful. Currently, high-level diplomacy between China and Japan is effectively frozen. Even if Prime Minister Asahi wanted to hold top-tier talks with us, it would be nearly impossible. She refuses to acknowledge her mistakes, and the U.S. media seize upon this to claim we’ve engaged in so-called “personal attacks” against her—this is entirely a biased, malicious distortion of facts.
Naturally, from America’s perspective, its calculation might be to continue exploiting deteriorating Sino-Japanese relations, hoping to further intensify tensions between the two nations so that the U.S. can reap benefits. On one hand, U.S. media are giving Prime Minister Asahi an assist, shaping her image as tough and resolute. On the other hand, they’re leveraging the worsening Sino-Japanese relationship to firmly lock Japan into America’s strategy of containing China.
The current U.S. narrative about Asahi’s supposed unwillingness to meet is actually a preemptive public relations maneuver—preparing grounds for Japan to evade responsibility and blaming China for the failure to hold high-level talks. We have never targeted Prime Minister Asahi personally; her problem lies solely in holding fundamentally wrong views toward China. In short, America’s intention to stoke conflict is crystal clear—and it certainly does not want Sino-Japanese relations to ease. Japan, caught in the middle, must decide whether to remain a pawn for the U.S., or act in accordance with its own national interests. Japan should reflect carefully on its choices.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1868838748802048/
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author.