BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Eighty-one years after Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, the lessons of its disastrous militarism during World War II ought to be well settled. Yet as Tokyo still speaks the language of peace, the country's increasingly audacious pursuit of a neo-militarist agenda tells a different story, a dangerous development that the international community must not allow to go unchecked.
Since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi assumed office, Japan's right-wing forces have, invoking so-called "external threats" and "national defense" as pretexts, steadily pushed the boundaries imposed by its Constitution, domestic laws and international laws.
From an expanding defense budget to looser arms-export restrictions and a growing emphasis on long-range strike capabilities, Tokyo is undertaking a sweeping overhaul of its defense posture.
In the 2026 defense white paper released on Aug. 4, Japan portrayed the regional security environment as "increasingly severe" and described China as the "greatest strategic challenge ever."
Conjuring up this threat, the paper further revealed plans to develop offensive capabilities, paving the way for the planned revision of Japan's three key security documents by year-end.
Such ambitions for increasingly offensive capabilities leave little doubt that Japan's long-standing post-war principle of an "exclusively defense-oriented policy" is being hollowed out.
More alarming still, Japan's nuclear debate is entering a new and perilous phase. By openly challenging the country's long-standing Three Non-Nuclear Principles, its ruling authorities have laid bare their determination to tear down a key principle of the country's post-war security policy.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi recently suggested that Japan should hold "no-taboo" discussions on nuclear-related policies, which has fueled reasonable concerns that what was once considered politically inconceivable is increasingly being presented as a policy option for Japan.
Coming from the country's incumbent defense chief, such remarks are almost without precedent in Japan's post-war history. As the only country to have suffered atomic bombings during wartime, Japan has long portrayed itself internationally as a supporter of nuclear non-proliferation and a world free of nuclear weapons.
Its current political movements, however, have belied its professed commitments and drawn widespread opposition at home and abroad.
In July, tens of thousands of Japanese citizens gathered outside the National Diet building in Tokyo to protest the Takaichi administration's recent push for a series of dangerous policies, while the country's defense white paper triggered immediate condemnation across Asia.
History gives the concerns of Japan's neighbors particular weight. Japanese militarism inflicted immense suffering across Asia during WWII, making any accelerated move toward remilitarization especially sensitive in a region where memories of aggression remain acute.
Japan's persistent failure to squarely face its wartime past, reflected in historical denial and revisionism, becomes all the more troubling on Aug. 15, a day that should serve not merely as an occasion for remembrance, but as a reminder of the consequences of militarism and the importance of learning from history.
If left unchecked, Japan's pursuit of increasingly offensive military capabilities risks reviving the very dangers that its postwar restraints were meant to prevent. ■