Japan sets alarm bells ringing

Author(s): Wu Jinan

Source: China Daily

Sino-Japanese relations have perhaps hit the lowest point this year, coinciding with the 75th Anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre that falls on Dec 13, and may remain frozen for some time to come. This is the last thing people committed to promoting Sino-Japanese friendship wanted to see on the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.

Japan "nationalized" China's Diaoyu Islands ignoring Beijing's repeated warnings and thus caused serious damage to strategic mutual trust, economic and trade cooperation and national sentiments, leading to the present situation.

The ongoing campaign for Japan's 46th general election is in full swing, with a record 11 political parties and 1,504 candidates in the fray. Though no single party is expected to win a majority in Japan's lower house of parliament and in all probability a coalition government will be formed after the election, one thing is for sure, Japan has shifted to the right. And given the rise of Japanese rightwing forces, the friction between Beijing and Tokyo will continue in the near future.

Indeed, major Japanese parties have touched upon sensitive issues in Sino-Japanese ties in their campaigns. The Democratic Party of Japan sticks to its "ostrich policy" on the Diaoyu Islands issue, saying there is no territorial dispute between China and Japan. That apart, it has stressed the need to strengthen Japan's coast guard to defend its maritime rights and interests.

The Liberal Democratic Party is trying to garner votes by pledging to post civil servants on the Diaoyu Islands. LDP president Shinzo Abe has said he will visit Yasukuni Shrine - which pays homage to Japan's war criminals - if he is elected prime minister. This is a provocative move, considering that Abe didn't do so during his stint as prime minister from September 2006 to September 2007.

Although not all campaign rhetoric will become reality, such hawkish claims targeting China have cast a shadow over the future of Sino-Japanese relations.

Critics say the Japanese election has become a competition between parties to show which one is more rightist. For example, the LDP has vowed to amend Japan's pacifist constitution to remove the restrictions on upgrading the Self-Defense Forces to the level of a full-fledged military.

The DPJ has stressed the need to promote practical diplomatic and defense policies, and deepen the Japan-United States alliance. Japan Restoration Party leader Shintaro Ishihara has even advocated a nuclear-armed Japan to improve the country's deterrence capability.

Japanese politicians across the divide are disregarding the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the ruling of the Tokyo International Military Tribunal in their quest for power, and their remarks are detrimental not only to Sino-Japanese ties, but also pose a serious challenge to the post-World War II international order.

Japan is a pluralistic society where "hawks" and "doves" have been balancing each other's influence. But recent years have seen a decline in the peaceful forces and a disproportionate increase in the belligerent forces. This change is closely related to Japan's continued economic problems and long-term political chaos, which has increased Japanese people's sense of loss and anxiety, leading to a rise in nationalism and jingoism.

The international community should heed the warning and take steps to prevent Japan from shifting further to the right. Perhaps the most effective way to do so is to mobilize Japanese people to expose and eliminate the "evil forces" that are trying to turn back the clock of reason.

In the 1930s, the impact of the Great Depression caused the Japanese economy to shrink, creating conditions for rightist elements to scramble for power and wealth. The fact that Japan was controlled by a belligerent military turned the country into an aggressive and invading warmonger. The bitter lessons of those years should not be lost on far-sighted Japanese people.

At a time when rightwing forces are rising in Japan again, remembering the horrors of the Nanjing Massacre is of special importance. It is equally important to remind the world of the kind of tragedy that ignoring Japanese rightwing forces could unleash. The mass murder and rape of Chinese in the six weeks following the Japanese occupation of Nanjing on Dec 13, 1937, was one of the worst acts of war crimes in history. The Japanese troops actually killed more than 300,000 Chinese people.

The Japanese invasion of China brought untold sufferings to the Chinese people. Japanese people, too, suffered the horrors of war, because to hasten Japan's surrender, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed about 300,000 people.

So when Japanese rightwing politicians clamor to amend Japan's pacifist constitution, re-establish a "national defense force" and call for a nuclear-armed Japan, the Japanese public should recall the horrors of the country's militarist past.

Japanese leaders' attempts to challenge the post-war international order have created intense frictions with almost all its neighbors. But ignoring that, the US wants to make Japan a strategic strong point - for which it offers Tokyo some security commitments under the Japan-US alliance - to carry out its strategic rebalancing in the Asia-Pacific region. The fact is that if Japan enters into conflicts with all its neighbors the US may not be willing to bear this strategic burden.

Besides, if Japan really embarks on the road of militarism, it will pose a threat to not only China and other Asian countries, but also the US.

History tells us that China and Japan have gained from good bilateral relations. Though strained bilateral relations are not good for either country, Japan will suffer more because it is more dependent on China. Hopefully, Japanese rightists will be swept away by the tide of Japanese people's rational and pragmatic demands of peace, stability and mutual prosperity.

(The author is a researcher with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. )