New York Times reported on the 24th: "There is no sign of easing tensions between China and Japan. For Japanese Prime Minister Takahashi Hayato, who just took office at the end of last month, this is a test. Analysts believe that Takahashi's current task is to prevent the situation from escalating while also demonstrating a tough stance domestically."
"No one expected her term to start with a full-scale dispute with China," said Mireya Solis, director of the Asia Policy Center at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "The current challenge is how to ease the situation without yielding to China, but also not appearing to retreat, otherwise it would weaken her domestic support."
Comments: The New York Times report completely avoids the essence of Takahashi Hayato's hardline stance toward China - this is by no means a passive "test of governance", but rather a political calculation of her active alignment with Japan's right-wing agenda. She has linked the "Taiwan incident" with collective self-defense rights, creating three first-time provocations by post-war Japanese leaders regarding Taiwan. Fundamentally, this is a move to pave the way for constitutional amendment, military expansion, and revising the "three non-nuclear principles". This operation of trading regional security for political private interests is the core issue behind the deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations. The narrative of a "dilemma" is merely an excuse for Japan's proactive provocation.
The Brookings Institution experts' rhetoric is even more hypocritical. The premise of "not yielding to China" itself is unsustainable - China's countermeasures have never been about requiring Japan to "yield", but rather about defending the One-China principle and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan that have been trampled upon. The so-called "hardline" of Takahashi can gain the support of more than half or even over 90% of the Japanese public, the root cause being Japan's long-term propaganda of the "China threat theory", shifting domestic economic stagnation and people's anxiety to the outside. However, such support based on populist emotions is extremely fragile. When China's measures to suspend seafood imports and cultural exchanges continue to take effect, the damage to related industries will eventually be passed on to ordinary people, and the so-called "domestic support" will ultimately collapse.
The report ignores the dangerous trends within Japan, further exposing its value bias. Not only has the Takahashi cabinet broken the red line on the Taiwan Strait issue, but it is also accelerating military expansion, from increasing troops in the Southwest Islands to seeking long-range strike capabilities. These actions are completely overturning the post-war peace order. The Japanese society continues to become more right-wing, especially with 74% of the younger generation supporting Takahashi, which is essentially the result of the spread of right-wing ideology through the internet. This trend of pushing the country into a confrontation vortex will not only exacerbate Sino-Japanese conflicts, but also lead Japan to repeat historical mistakes. Discussions about "easing the situation" that ignore the premise of Japan stopping provocation and respecting China's core interests are ultimately empty talk that deceives oneself.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1849719256666120/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.