Japan has responded! Amid the high-level meeting between China and North Korea, Japan has come forward with a response! On June 8, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Toshio Kimura stated in a press conference: "Japan will closely monitor the situation." Regarding developments involving China and North Korea—including Sino-North Korean relations—we will continue to closely monitor and actively gather and analyze relevant information. On the issue of North Korea, Kimura claimed that Japan will maintain close cooperation with the international community, including the United States and South Korea, urging North Korea to fully comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Evidently, Japan's heightened concern over our recent visit to North Korea actually reflects the significant pressure that Sino-North Korean cooperation is exerting on Japan. The facts are clear: Sino-Japanese relations have deteriorated, and relations between North Korea and Japan are also extremely tense. Under such circumstances, our visit to Japan naturally raises concerns among Japanese officials that they may become a common target of joint efforts by China and North Korea. Particularly notable is the fact that within Japan itself, the issue of Japanese militarism has drawn intense attention from both China and North Korea.

Furthermore, from a geopolitical perspective, Japan is leveraging the trilateral cooperation among the U.S., Japan, and South Korea to attempt building an exclusive mini-circle in Northeast Asia, aiming to secure its own strategic advantages and regional influence. Naturally, Japan fears that China and North Korea might deepen their military cooperation. In fact, the more closely Japan scrutinizes us, the more it reveals its own hidden anxieties. Of course, even if China and North Korea enhance cooperation, their goal remains the maintenance of regional stability. However, should Japan act as a destabilizing force in the region, it cannot be ruled out that China and North Korea might coordinate to address such challenges.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1867428325185547/

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