By Chen Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-10-11 07:17

Japan's excuse of airspace violations for its planned deployment of new F-15 jet fighters on Okinawa does not hold water and reflects a "Cold War mentality" against China, say Chinese experts.

Foreign media have reported that a Japanese defense ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the country plans to send 20 F-15 jets to Okinawa by the end of March 2009, the first time for the fighters to be deployed on the southwestern island.

The plan, designed to enhance defense capabilities in southwestern Japan, also includes the deployment of an Apache fighter helicopter on the island of Kyushu, according to the spokeswoman.

Japan is upgrading jet fighters "as a measure aimed at airspace violations", she was quoted as saying.

"We can hardly not think of the move as targeted at China, given the geographic proximity of Okinawa and China," said Shen Shishun, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS).

"The excuse of 'airspace violations' sounds pale. It is unimaginable in our view," said Shen.

"It's sheer Cold War mentality. Japan is over-reacting to China's rapid development and its growing international influence, and tends to mark out China because of our differences on ideology," Shen added.

During the Cold War, Japan's defense policy focused on Hokkaido, seen as possibly vulnerable from the Soviet Union, while in recent years its defense forces have gradually moved to the southwestern coast. Over the past two years, the "China threat" theory has showed up in Japanese defense white papers.

The number of emergency alerts caused by alleged Chinese incursions into Japanese airspace has also increased sharply, Japanese media has claimed.

Despite the present warming ties between China and Japan, the hardline mentality of Japan's defense policy is unlikely to fundamentally change, according to Zheng Donghui, another researcher with CIIS.

Given the proximity of Okinawa and Taiwan, Japan's upgrading of jet fighters on the island also reflects its concerns about possible tension across the Taiwan Straits, which is purely China's internal affair, according to Zheng.

"It is unwise to foster a confrontation over ideological differences," said Zheng. "Japan should realize that mutual trust with China is key not only to bilateral relations, but also the stability of Asia as a whole."