Keeping your word

a High profile approach does not necess-arily place Japan on the moral high ground.

Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, Japanese senior vice-foreign minister, came to Beijing on Tuesday carrying a letter from Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to President Hu Jintao. In arranging that communication, Japan should know that whoever started these troubles should be responsible for ending them.

Koichiro Genba, Japanese foreign minister, said on Tuesday that the two countries must exchange opinions and communicate. Those statements mark an about-face for Japan in its dispute with China over the Diaoyu Islands.

Japan denies that the two countries are in disagreement about which country is sovereign over the eight isles and has refused to talk on the issue.

Beyond that, Japanese politicians have tried to use their claims over Chinese territory to advance their own political careers. These deeds have ignited the fires of "nationalism", which are now burning out of control in Japan and in some parts of this country.

The messages coming from Japan are confusing. Satoshi Morimoto, Japanese defense minister, told his country's House of Representatives that Japan will not shy from asking the United States to defend Japan's claim to the Diaoyu Islands and that, for the same purpose, Japan will increase the size of its own self-defense force.

More than once, Japanese leaders - Noda included - have threatened to use force.

And Japan has shown it applies a double standard in its territorial disputes with its neighbors.

It has asked the Republic of Korea, for instance, to enter into negotiations about the disputed islands. But the ROK has refused to take up the discussion, saying there is no dispute between the two countries in this matter. At the same time, Japan refuses to talk about the Diaoyu Islands with China.

When China and Japan restored their diplomatic relations in 1972, they resolved to settle their disputes in a peaceful way.

Japan, in its comments and actions pertaining to the islands, is now going back on its word. It relishes playing political hardball and turning up the heat when this particular issue comes up, leaving little room for a resolution.

There is no excuse for the two countries to exist beside each other in anything but peace.

If the Japanese Prime Minister's letter is a signal that Japan is ready to talk about the Diaoyu Islands and mend relations, we hope that Japan will be as good as its word.

(China Daily 08/30/2012 page8)