Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kicks off his first trip after taking
 office to Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia today. Global media all 
connect his trip with the intense state of the Sino-Japanese 
relationship. They consider that the purpose of this action is to 
contain China. Even some people in Japan shouted that they want to 
"encircle China."
Reuters
 - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) and his Vietnamese counterpart 
Nguyen Tan Dung review the guard of honour during a welcoming ceremony 
at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi January 16, 2013
Encircling China? Those people may not know 
what they are talking about. Some people in Japan seem like paranoids 
who expect that China can be encircled. Some Japanese politicians are 
also not sober enough, such as Abe, who raised the proposal of "the arc 
of freedom and prosperity" in his previous term.
According to the
 Sankei Shimbun, Abe raised another strategy, suggesting that Australia,
 India, Japan, and the US Hawaii form a diamond to safeguard the 
maritime commons stretching from the Indian Ocean region to East China 
Sea. Areas such as China's Diaoyu Islands and South China Sea islands 
are all encircled by it. Sankei Shimbun said that the strategy is raised
 to contain China which is increasingly active in the ocean.
China
 is too large for this. It will be a joke in international strategy 
circles if Japan seeks to encircle China. It cannot achieve this goal 
even if it cooperates with the US. 
Abe's visit to Southeast Asia
 will not bring China a sense of crisis. We can understand that Japan 
wants to strengthen its interests in Southeast Asia when the prospects 
of Sino-Japanese relations look bleak. We have no interest in competing 
for influence in Southeast Asia. 
Japan in Asia is a good thing 
for China. There is no hope for Japan to defeat China strategically even
 there's a war between the two. However, Japan brings us stimulation and
 vigilance. It warns what kind of external resistance China may face in 
its future rise. 
China should both take Japan seriously and be 
indifferent at the strategic level. Despite the prominence of the 
dispute, Japan is only a small part of the strategic hidden dangers for 
China. 
If Abe's trip to Southeast Asia is aimed at "containing 
China," he can only reduce Japan's role on the political stage of Asia. 
The trip will only be a show without substantive content. Maybe Abe's 
cabinet is not so stupid. They want to expand Japan's economic space 
"after the Sino-Japanese friendship."
As to anti-Japanese feeling
 in Chinese public opinion, we should prevent it from being a trap for 
ourselves. We cannot be overly angry with Japan, concentrate all 
attention to Japan and forget others. 
It should be Japan that 
worries most about Sino-Japanese relations, instead of China. China is 
rising and we are the driving force of changes in Asian geopolitics. 
Just let Japan mess about in China's surrounding areas. Japan's 
negotiations with claimants in South China Sea disputes will have no 
effect. It will be no better than a kind of self-comforting. 
Frequent
 changes of Japanese cabinet have resulted in many political actions for
 show. Toward Japan, China should not only be cautious, but not to 
overreact.- Global Times
Related posts:
Dispute with China takes toll on Japan 
China sends fighters to counter Japan's war planes
 
 
 
No comments:
Post a Comment