TOKYO, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Japan has once again staged a clumsy political spectacle by accusing Chinese naval vessels of locking their radar on Japanese assets, aiming to depict China as a regional destabilizer and validate its own military growth.
On Saturday, China's Liaoning aircraft carrier formation conducted normal flight training in the public waters east of the Miyako Strait -- an area where all nations enjoy freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law.
The Chinese side notified nearby Japanese vessels well in advance of its flight training. Unfortunately, that didn't stop Japanese military aircraft from repeatedly approaching the training zones despite repeated notifications and pre-warnings from the Chinese side, seriously disrupting routine exercises and endangering flight safety. Ignoring all facts, Japan remained silent about its own provocations.
This latest incident is not the first time the Japanese side has cried wolf and shifted blame. In June, Japan conducted close-in reconnaissance of the Chinese Navy's aircraft carrier Shandong, which was conducting routine training in the Pacific Ocean, but then accused a Chinese fighter jet of adopting an "abnormal approach" to a Japanese patrol plane.
In recent years, Japan has consistently made up "external threats" as a pretext to justify the expansion of its offensive weaponry.
Earlier in November, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan's right wing said it could intervene militarily on the Taiwan issue, claiming China could pose a threat to Japan's survival. This rhetoric is not merely an affront to China's core interests and sovereignty, but a calculated ploy to reset Japan's security identity and normalize military expansion.
Of particular concern is the revival of militarist thinking in Japan in recent years. Supported by revisionist groups seeking a return to imperial "glory," Takaichi has accelerated Japan's military ambitions by advocating significant increases in defense spending and loosening restrictions on arms exports.
Recent discussions about revisiting Japan's long-standing non-nuclear principles further signal an effort to extend the country's military reach well beyond postwar limits, posing risks to regional stability and potentially drawing the country into conflicts of its own making.
Eighty years ago, peace-loving countries worldwide paid a monumental price to defeat fascism in Japan. With the spectre of militarism still rearing its ugly head, the world should stay utmost vigilant over Japan's ambitions.
The Japanese government must end its provocations that jeopardize regional peace and stability, and drop its illusion that somehow it can undermine the post-war world order. If Tokyo reverts to militarism, it will face staunch opposition from the Chinese people and the wider international community and end up in absolute failure. ■