Opinion
November 10, 2004
Japan's sabre rattling affronts China's integrity
China on Tuesday expressed its grave concerns over Japanese media reports fabricating the "China threat" and on the three hypotheses under which China could attack Japan.
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said such reports are baseless and beyond understanding. China pursues a road of peaceful development and its development poses no threat to any one, she said.
"We oppose to anyone fabricating or instigating the so-called 'China threat.' The parties concerned should give up their Cold War mentality and work to promote peace and development in Asia, and the world as whole," she said.
Japan's Kyodo news agency reportedly revealed on Sunday the country's Defence Agency will revise its security strategy based upon three hypotheses under which China could attack Japan.
If war broke out across the Taiwan Straits, the mainland might attack Japan to thwart US forces positioned in Japan to aid Taiwan, the agency allegedly said.
Their main concern argued that with the territorial disputes between China and Japan increasingly sharpening, China might obtain the Diaoyu Islands by force. They also believe China might take every possible means to defend its interests in the East China Sea.
Such logic full of imaginations is clearly provocative and reveals Tokyo's Cold War mentality, said a commentary by China Daily, Nov. 10.
In essence, it is an attempt by Japan to intervene in the settlement of the Taiwan question and domestically legalize their claim of sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands and territory in the East China Sea.
It is nothing less than an affront to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Taiwan's independence trumpeter enjoys a high degree of popularity among a number of Japanese rightist forces.
The island's separatists have made unremitting efforts to establish ties with Japan's new-generation of politicians, especially those in congress.
Compared with their forerunners, they attach more importance to keeping a balance across the Straits. It is their viewpoint that a US-Japan defence should include Taiwan in its scope.
They even propose Japan should upgrade its substantial ties with the island whatever attitude the Chinese mainland holds.
Japan's attempt to intervene in the Taiwan Straits not only poses uncertainties in Sino-Japanese relations but risks torpedoing peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
As for Japan's ownership claim on the Diaoyu Islands and the wrangling between the two over energy and territory in the East China Sea, there is overwhelming evidence to indicate the Diaoyu Islands have been part of Chinese territory since ancient times. And China's oil and gas explorations in the East China Sea are being carried out in China's indisputable coastal waters. They are within the scope of China's sovereignty.
Japan has from time to time made irresponsible statements and taken irresponsible actions. These seriously damage Sino-Japanese relations and go far to assume China as a foe rather than regional, responsible friend.
As Japan's relationship with China is already undermined by frequent visits by high-profile officials to the Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo is hardly undertaking fence-mending efforts. Instead, it seems bent on pursuing measures in the opposite direction, concludes the commentary.
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