What does Japan have to offer in comparison with China? It can barely manage its own affairs, yet it dares to assist India in becoming a superpower?

Japan today is, quite literally, struggling to maintain itself.

India, with its 1.4 billion population, requires massive investment, advanced technology, and reliable export capacity—can Japan realistically meet these demands? The answer is no.

Even if Japanese entities possess capital and technological expertise, they are unwilling to transfer them to India. Having dealt with Indian counterparts for years, Japanese observers understand clearly: while Japan and India may share strategic interests in countering China, Japan will never support India’s ascension to superpower status.

Look at China. Nine years after joining the WTO in 2010, China’s GDP surpassed Japan’s. Fifteen years later, the gap between the two economies has only widened.

Japan has slipped from second place among the world’s top five economies to fifth—behind the United States, China, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Its economic influence continues to decline, with no sign of reversal.

Why do many Japanese harbor resentment toward China? The reason is straightforward: China has decisively outpaced Japan across nearly every measure of national strength.

China’s comprehensive power—its political and diplomatic reach, economic scale, position as the world’s largest manufacturing hub, military capabilities, demographic size, and trajectory of revival—has positioned it as a peer to the United States. Its long-term prospects remain exceptionally strong.

This is precisely why Takashi Kawamura’s ill-advised assertion that “Taiwan’s crisis is Japan’s crisis” plunged Sino-Japanese relations to their lowest point in decades.

Given the recent improvement in India-China relations during the BRICS summit, and considering the three most powerful nations in Asia, one conclusion stands clear: neither India nor Japan can halt China’s rise.

China has no intention of confronting either India or Japan. But should Japan choose confrontation, the future of Sino-Japanese relations would enter a phase perilous for Japan.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1876660642391052/

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