Japan brushes off China 'troublemaker' criticism of Abe

rsgz4gg7y2Jan. 17, 2014 - 07:26AM JST Japan's diplomatic response is reasonably restrained and polite. This is good. Leaves the possibility of dialog open, >however unlikely it seems at the moment.

In the eyes of the world, Japan's response has always been restrained and polite. In contrast China's has been nothing but aggressive, spiteful, and belligerent. Whoever is calling the shots in Beijing has totally destroyed any chances of China ever been looked up to as a "leader" by all of Asia.

Japan should use these Chinese outbursts to highlight China's illegal occupation of Tibet and East Turkestan. Every time a Chinese diplomat speaks out about Japan, the Tibetans and Uyghurs should be there to take advantage of the media coverage.

Let's face it, no one takes China seriously any more. The more they make fool of themselves, the more no one's going to take the current dispute seriously. Japan seemed rather diplomatic with the remark.

@pointofview - It's a mistake to believe that both nations are 'as bad as each other' and equally responsible for the ongoing hostility. All the belligerence, hostility, and aggression is coming from one side - CCP China. In what way have the Japanese been acting against China's interests? When have Japanese ministers, ambassadors', or the PM ever publicly mounted concerted and deceptive smear campaigns against China and the CCP, or condemned them in the UN for their questionable internal polices?

The CCP statement that Abe is trying to make the Chinese look bad is ridiculous - they are accomplishing that without any outside assistance through their own words and actions.

In Tokyo on Thursday, the government issued a low-key response, with a deputy press secretary of the foreign minister telling reporters Japan had a decades-long record of peace.

“Japan has been contributing to the peace and stability of the region as well as the world for 60 years since World War II,” said Koichi Mizushima.

“Japan has no intention of containing China. Rather, Japan wants China to be a responsible partner in contributing to peace and stability,” said Mizushima.

The response is an increasingly familiar mantra from Tokyo, which says it has repented of its warring past and made reparations for its brutal invasions and occupations of the mid-20th century.

It says Beijing persistently resurrects the issue for domestic political reasons and to distract attention at home from inequalities and the poor state of the environment.

Nice response Tokyo, stay calm and intelligent, china keeps banging on like a mad dog, the world can see it.

China is full of lies.

Troublemaker?

Hope China understands the West does not use this word lightly and casually in diplomacy. This is bad.

He has worked hard to portray China as a threat, aiming to sow discord, raising regional tensions and so creating a convenient excuse for the resurrection of Japanese militarism.

China needs to explain to the world why their military spending has been over 11% since about 5 years ago. Abe was not even a PM 5 years ago. Their logic is very poor and irrational. China needs a lot of explaining to do to the world.

The purpose of the (shrine) visit was not to warship war criminals at all. (Abe) visited Yasukuhi to pledge that Japan will never wage war again

It is a good reason to me. What's wrong with Chinese heads? They often see things differently (distorted?) through a cheap pair of sunglasses from "Dollar Tree" shops.

In one of the highest-profile exchanges, the Chinese and Japanese ambassadors to the UK used the pages of the Daily Telegraph to accuse each other’s country of being Asia’s Voldemort, the villain from the popular Harry Potter novels.

Harry Potter? Pleez, not a kids stuff, please. What China needs is a "Fifty Shades of Gray" to relax. LOL

“Five or 10 years back, it would have been unimaginable if over 30 Chinese ambassadors collectively published articles in the media worldwide.”

Do you remember China has been getting a free money from Japan called the ODA money? Ones who forget good deeds of others have no future, hope and dream. These 30 ambassadors are probably all in dead end jobs. Do not use Japan as their punching bag, please. Get life instead.

The Mongols invaded Japan in that year, and again in 1281. Not the Chinese.

There's no doubt that it was the Chinese that were invading Japan.

Initial study of the artifacts has revealed new information about the khan's forces. Only one percent of the finds can be attributed to a Mongolian origin; the rest are Chinese. The Mongol invasion was Mongol only in name and in the allegiance of the invading sailors and troops.

Whether it's China during the Yuan Dynasty or China under the so called Communist government, Chinese aggression needs to be met with force. General Douglas MacArthur on China:

There are some who, for varying reasons, would appease Red China. They are blind to history's clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war. It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace. Like blackmail, it lays the basis for new and successively greater demands until, as in blackmail, violence becomes the only other alternative.

The stronger China's neighbors are militarily, the better behaved China will be. That's the simple truth.

Japan's diplomatic response is reasonably restrained and polite. This is good. Leaves the possibility of dialog open, however unlikely it seems at the moment.

well played. stay calm and move ON.

China did make some noise, ABEit briefly.

I think restraint is best. China cannot hope that a result in their favor will come. The only thing that this may do is drum up home support for the government. Their military strategists and think-tanks must conclude that anything other than a war of words is utterly non profitable . Not so for Japan though.

I kept hearing that Japan has been peaceful since the War, but that’s only because Japan has to comply with the post-war order. Japan has been forced to accept the pacifist constitution, imposed on Japan by the US.

And how do we know the Chinese have changed since 1274? Lately they've invaded Tibet and East Turkestan and are now threatening to take the entire South China Sea. Here's Liu Yazhou , political commissar at the PLA National Defence University boasting about China's belligerence.

Liu said that under the leadership of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping , the PLA had fought the US army in Korea in the 1950s, a border conflict with India in 1962, a battle with the former Soviet Union over sovereignty of Zhenbao Island (Damansky Island) in 1969 and the conflict with Vietnam in 1979.

The invasion of Vietnam alone left over 10,000 Vietnamese civilians dead. Uyghurs continue to be killed. And the Chinese are now publishing articles about nuking the United States. China, a peaceful country? As a certain judge used to say, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining.

China and its neighbors do not have any history of invasion last 19th,20th and this century.

China invaded Vietnam in 1979 leaving over 10,000 Vietnamese civilians dead. The only reason China isn't occupying northern Vietnam today is because the Vietnamese kicked the Chinese out.

An arms race has started in Asia and it isn't because some prime minister in Japan visited a shrine. Vietnam has ordered six Kilo-class submarines from Russia. The Philippines have ordered two more Hamilton-class cutters from the United States. The Chinese can say all they want about Japan being a threat, but at the end if the day it's the Chinese that are talking about nuking the United States.

Chinese calculations for nuclear attacks on the U.S. are chillingly macabre.

"Because the Midwest states of the U.S. are sparsely populated, in order to increase the lethality, [our] nuclear attacks should mainly target the key cities on the West Coast of the United States, such as Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego," the Global Times said.

"The 12 JL-2 nuclear warheads carried by one single Type 094 SSBN can kill and wound 5 million to 12 million Americans," the Global Times reported.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/31/inside-china-nuclear-submarines-capable-of-widespr/

Japan is a painter. It paints whatever it wants to see and paints over what it doesn't want to see. Such is Japanese character.

Aggressive China , with Communist way of thinking , they are spiting so much, so that they can justify their Invasion on Senkaku Islands , thats what is all about . And not only that, with those island, they have control of marine area around Senkaku , and marine control for them is more important then Senkaku alone .

The back and forth between these is unreal. Lets face it, they just cant stand each other. Too much bad blood. Not sure if apologies will fix anything.

@SecularBeast,

Maybe now one is more of an antagonist but many decades ago one was more brutal. Thats probably why the Chinese are doing what they do. What I think is really not the issue its what the Chinese think as they are the ones who were a part of that history. So trying to mediate with the Chinese over the long history of bad blood is a problem. Both countries are far from being perfect.

>The stronger China's neighbors are militarily, the better behaved China will be. That's the simple truth.

Fair enough for the neighbors, good neighbors are always well behave but never Japan. China and its neighbors do not have any history of invasion last 19th,20th and this century. As regards to agression, it is controversial, it works both ways or more Let the world decides whether Japan can easily brush off its evil past that brought down freely until today, with the help of China's broadcasting worldwide that the world seldom aware of.

Japan say it has repented, yet the statements of Hashimoto, Ishihara, Abe, the mayor of Nagoya and the guy who wants to be the new governor of Tokyo show a different picture.

@House Atreides:

There's no doubt that it was the Chinese that were invading Japan.

Actually youll find that if the Mongols hadnt invaded and taken over China, then the 2 failed invasions wouldnt have happened. The composition of the Mongol forces were a mix of Mongolian, Chinese, and Korean troops. Did the Chinese invade Japan of their own free will? No

I kept hearing that Japan has been peaceful since the War, but that’s only because Japan has to comply with the post-war order. Japan has been forced to accept the pacifist constitution, imposed on Japan by the US. It is not at all by choice that Japan has been peaceful so you can’t really look at the past 69 years. What you should look at is now and what is the path that it is leading to. Abe has been talking enthusiastically about justice, democracy, peace and dialogue. But the reality is seen in his actions. He is unrepentant about Japan’s militarist past and makes no apologies for it. He has openly questioned whether his country should be defined as an “aggressor”, and did his utmost to beautify its history of militaristic aggression and colonial rule. Before Dec 26, the US authorities rarely expressed concern about Japanese leaders visiting the shrine but not this time, this caused so much trouble that Abe had to send his brother the States to clear the air. In May 2013, Mr Abe caused great offence in China and Korea when he was photographed posing in a military jet boldly marked with the number 731: this was the code of an infamous Japanese biological warfare research facility performing human experiments in China during the war. Close attention should also be paid to his colleagues, such as Taro Aso, the deputy prime minister, who asserted that Japan could “learn” from Nazi Germany about revising constitutions. Respected Asia scholar Professor Jeff Kingston has suggested, in an interview with the BBC, that Abe’s actions were a deliberate provocation of China aimed at goading Beijing into an angry response. Such an outcome would heighten the Japanese public’s sense of threat, and consequently enhance support for the nationalistic leader’s plans to revise his country’s constitution. Abe has paid visits to more than 20 countries during the year since he retook office. Wherever he went, he advocated the "China Threat" theory and called for joint efforts of nations with democratic values to confront "non-democratic states." This represents a malicious diplomatic move aiming at fomenting division in Asia and the whole world. In an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 25, Abe even said he envisioned a resurgent Japan, which will take a more assertive leadership role in Asia to counter China's power. Definitely Abe’s words of peaceful Japan do not match his actions. Abe said he wanted Japan to be “normal” country again, but the question is whether Japan was “normal” 69 years ago.

Globalwatcher, “China needs to explain to the world why their military spending has been over 11% since about 5 years ago. Abe was not even a PM 5 years ago. Their logic is very poor and irrational. China needs a lot of explaining to do to the world.”

What to explain is whether the rate of increase has been enough when we look at the size of the country and the population. Considering the proportion of military spending in the world: the US is number 1 – spending 45% of the world total while China is only 8%. If taking the US as the base point, China should be spending at least the spending of the US and Japan combined. So, the double digit increase is not at all frightening and in fact China should be spending a lot more. Another misconception about Japan’s ODA to China is ODA is not a free gift it has a lot of conditions attached and Japan derived a lot of benefits from it. What puzzles me is why China was extremely nice to Japan in waiving the national compensation after the War which had caused China the loss of more than $600 billion and millions death, and even let the Japanese invaders free to go home. I think China should ask for the war reparation in today dollars and see how many more excuses Japan can come up with.

@flowers:

If taking the US as the base point, China should be spending at least the spending of the US and Japan combined. Exactly. A good point, considering China has a population of around 1.3 billion while the US has 300 million

And how do we know the Chinese have changed since 1274?

The Mongols invaded Japan in that year, and again in 1281. Not the Chinese. In essence, the Chinese government had been taken over by a foreign power - the Mongols - and danced to their tune (and would continue to do so until 1368

Never talk about xizang (Tibet) and xinjiang, which have been parts of china for hundreds years. Instead, look at urself, illegally taking Okinawa (琉球国) by force. If u keep barking, u have to free Okinawa oneday**.

Well so many people have claimed for so long that China is revealing Abe's actions for domestic consumption. Now is time to speak directly to the world for world consumption! Let the world decide who is right. China has downplayed the Japanese invasion for so long because of the humiliation they feel. They also erroneously kept silent to the world the pain they suffered to appear strong. It is good that they are now brave enough to tell the world. They are also wise to understand that it is not Japan but Abe that is creating all these!