Japan fishing in Washington-muddied waters: China Daily editorial

Considering the rapport the two sides demonstrated in their "candid, in-depth and constructive" ninth high-level political dialogue on regional security in Tianjin on Wednesday, Tokyo has sent a clear signal to Beijing that it has not shaken off its time-honored habit of saying one thing and doing another.

According to a report in the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, Japan will abandon its previous policy of not "possessing the capability to attack enemy bases" by developing and deploying longer-range cruise missiles targeting China.

As a result of the United States' aggressive assertion of its pride of place in the Asia-Pacific region, tensions between Washington and Beijing are on the rise. Tokyo sees this as an opportunity to push for amendment to its pacifist Constitution and legitimize its military ambitions.

Washington has effectively given a green light to the rightist forces in the country unleashing their martial spirit, a worrying development for the region where Washington's actions are already rattling the foundations of peace and stability.

Japan boasts the best air defense system in the region, but protecting itself from made-up external threats has always been the pretense for the country to bully, invade and exploit its neighbors, something it has done unremittingly since the 13th century to the great cost of its neighbors.

It is the US' indulgence that has bestowed Japan with the audacity to openly display its hostility toward China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Even before the country's Constitution is amended, something the rightist politicians in the country have long desired, Japan has as a matter of fact already broken the Constitutional restraints on developing aggressive military power, as it has never ceased arming itself with advanced weapons that qualify it to be considered as a world-class military power.

The situation could not be clearer. Washington and Tokyo are scratching each other's back to advance their respective agendas. The US wants Japan to act as a pawn in its "Indo-Pacific strategy", while Japan pretends to be happy to accept that role as a disguise for it accelerating what it portrays as its "normalization" process.

And while both countries claim they uphold the one-China principle, which means they recognize Taiwan as part of China, both are trying to exploit the Taiwan question to assert themselves against China.

To do so, they are both trying to hype up a threat from China. Since the threat is their fabrication, it is Washington and Tokyo that bear the blame for fomenting regional tensions. It is they that should act responsibly and stop militarizing and destabilizing the region.