China, not North Korea, to dominate Japan military planning

Japan isn't the one "testing" things of late to be fair..

China may have provided some important cultural influence to Asia, but what is going on now has little to do with that.

I for one appreciate freedom of association, movement and speech, but to name a few things that Japan has, one could argue, been influenced by other cultures.

The whole world history of musical chairs, with one tribe or nation conquering another to seize territory, pretty much ended 50 years ago. With no place new in the world, and an unprecedented population explosion, we are at a new phase of history where we need to get along or perish.

Seems like some in China want to bring the musical chairs back so they can catch up. If they get their wish, they will end up destroying much of the world. As a species, we simple cannot afford wars now.

As well Japan should. The CCP are all about taking over the world, with "blood", as Xi says, and to substantiate the CCP's plans to justify a China that never was and will never be, however much of Tibet, Mongolia, Vietnam, India, and fairyland area's of the seas near the Philippines the CCP invades in the name of evil. Dictatorships are the scourge of the world and it is a good thing that countries like Taiwan and Japan (and hopefully the USA once its population elects someone besides the Xi-Putin-worshiping Trump) prepare to stop the constant and disgusting expansionist policies of the CCP.

Japan has been willfully blind to the expansion of Chna's military power, preferring to turn a blind eye to the obvious. Now it is being pushed right in their faces and they are having to play catch up.

@strikebreaker555 the fact that the Han have had some cultural influence on the evolution of Japanese culture at times in the past is wholly irrelevant to the response to an aggressive neighbouring dictatorship which within living memory sought to wipe out of existence any trace of that purported 3500 years of history!

China is insidious. It will work to divide and conquer friends and allies so as to take on conquests one country at a time. It will get strong enough to do so in a decade or two at the most. It currently lacks combat experience so expect its first conquest to be someone small and considered an easy target.

Since the 80's the world has been investing in China for quick profits, and made China strong. The more trade with China the longer it stays strong, and the stronger it gets. Invest in your own country and in your allies. Make yourselves stronger and your allies stronger.

China has turned into a monster thats been created by the greed of Companies and Governments for quick profits at the expense of their own economies and people. The west made China what it is today and now may well reap something it did not expect.

Sometimes life is better travelled by the hard road, rather than the shortcuts.

Another day gone by and life is a little bleaker than yesterday.

China is Japan's friend, Japan's husband, Japan's benefactor. If some nations want to fight China, it is their privilege, Japan shouldn't be a part of it. China has her own sovereign to defend, it is her right to use all means to safe guard her interests in East China Sea, in South China Sea, as Japan has the right to make sure Japanese interests are protected. Between Japan and China, there is only planning to be good wife and husband, good neighbors. When China is stronger, the United State of Northeast Asia is stronger, and Japan will be respected by the world more, not less.

A little too late... but if done right and in a hurry... may be able to get some recognition... but not the safety and security... China has already "penetrated" the world... all that "thanks" to the USA... that has been "ignoring" the China threat which through Clinton and to Obama has "allowed" all that to happen for the seeming benefit of US and European industries and their wealth and power.

While the world played with "idealism", China has been playing "realism" with an objective second only to probably the Muslim world...

"Action definitely speaks louder than words." And, all the countries knew that China has been acting behind a "facade" of words for decades.

Sad that Japan and other Asian nations did not see this coming.

The key to all is control of territories by "occupation" to gain economic power through control of human and natural resources which ultimately controls the survival of the people within that territory..

Today, countries cannot "recover" their territories from the occupying Chinese unless there is a military conflict to do so. From the Senkaku islands to the islands off Philippines in the S China Sea, military action is the only alternative to recover and keep a country's territory. China is now "daring" countries to "try". UN and any international decree is useless unless enforceable.

And all nations know that when UN has the ability to "enforce" anything,.. there will be no "balance" of anything... a true Orwellian world...

Now China has declared that it wants to and will fight to become all powerful... the Central Kingdom of historical past...

So Japan as with the rest of the world must wake-up to this and face this threat... and face it Japan must...

First it must prevent the sale of real estate to foreign nationals... "occupancy" is the key to "control" of any territory... and Japan is "losing" that very quickly...

It is a joke to defend so called Island chain. Japan would be much happier if China wouldn't cut Japan links to the mainland. In fact, China never did that to Japan in the past 3000 years. Why would Japan block Chinese pathway to the seas? It is illegal and immoral. Even some want Japan to be the evil one, Japan has no capability to do that. Japanese lives are as expensive as other Asians.

Under a security treaty, Washington is obliged to aid Tokyo if its territory is attacked.

When China would capture Senkaku islands there will be no activity from the US.

The Potus will probably send a tweet congratulating Xi Jinping for his guts :)

My advise to Abe or his officias is that stop bluffing. Just look at the map, the China you showed to the people is not a real map. China is much bigger than that, and much bigger than Japan, not smaller as the map indicated. The military bases the article talked about are much smaller than Chinese villages and the population on these bases are no more than most packed Chinese swimming pools. What jokes can't be made by the stupid officials ?

Germany is catching up, so are UK and France

France is becoming strategically aligned with India. U.K is desperate for alternatives to the E.U and Germany will do what Germany wants as it always has.

China has already destroyed the coral reefs and marine wildlife... no more fish for anyone.

Matt Hartwell, India has big potential if everything is going smoothly.