Abe builds up 'China threat' in support of bills
- By Cai Hong
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E-mail China Daily, August 4, 2015
Japan's English daily, Japan Times, hit the nail on the head when it said, "By highlighting the threat posed by China, the government appears to be trying to use the white paper to drum up public support for the Abe administration's controversial security legislation."
But the Abe administration has not stopped there. It released pictures of China's oil and gas exploration platform in waters that are not in dispute and fall under China's jurisdiction and called for a halt to their construction.
The photos were released only a week before the Upper House started debating the new security bills, showing how the Abe administration is trying to frighten the Japanese public into acceding to the changes he desires.
If it wants its people and the world to know the truth, it needs to tell them the consensus on the East China Sea issue, including oil and gas exploitation, that his country and China reached in 2008.
The main reason for his administration's finger-pointing at China is to try to convince the Japanese people to support Abe's security legislation. The LDP and its junior coalition partner, the Komeito Party, hope to pass the bills during the current session of parliament, which has been stretched from June 24 to September 27, the longest extension since World War II.
Japan Times has cautioned that if Japan plays up the threats posed by China and uses them as a pretext to beef up its military capabilities, China could use that as an excuse to respond in kind. "The result would be a ramping up of regional tension and a possible arms race."
The protests in front of the prime minister's office show that many Japanese people are not buying their government's excuses to expand the role of Japan's Self-Defense Forces.
Abe should not ignore them in blind pursuit of his personal ambitions for his country.
The author is China Daily's Tokyo bureau chief.
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