Words ring hollow till Tokyo mends its ways: China Daily editorial

Japanese Ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi said, in a TV Asahi program aired on Tuesday, that he cannot be "optimistic" that strained China-Japan ties will improve at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen in November, adding that he hoped to "mobilize diplomatic resources to help relations stabilize even a little, making the most of this rare opportunity".

The ambassador is attempting to signal a "willingness" to talk as if it is China that hinders Japan's efforts to repair ties. But the actions of the Sanae Takaichi government clearly show that Tokyo remains unwilling to confront the underlying causes of the current difficulties in bilateral ties.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian urged the Japanese government to abide by the four political documents between the two countries, and create the conditions necessary for normal exchanges between China and Japan through concrete actions.

Yet Tokyo persists in its hostile posturing toward China. During his visit to Australia and India last week, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi sought to build military alliances to counter what Japan baselessly perceives as "China's expansion" in the region.

In the technology sector, Japan has recently upgraded its high-tech restrictions against China, implementing export controls on advanced machine tools and related technologies, with the aim of hindering the development of China's high-tech industries. This undermines Sino-Japanese economic and trade cooperation.

Tokyo's reluctance to address historical issues is a blatant affront to its neighboring countries that suffered from Japan's invasion. On Aug 15, the 81st anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers that marked the end of World War II, Takaichi made an offering to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine and paid tribute to it from a distance, while about 90 Japanese politicians visited the shrine in person. The shrine enshrines 14 convicted Class-A war criminals of WWII.

On Tuesday, China's Ministry of State Security published an article on its official WeChat account explaining why the Yasukuni Shrine should be referred to as the "shrine of war criminals", describing it as a symbol of Japanese militarism. A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said the true intentions of the Japanese politicians visiting the shrine are to change the verdict on the war criminals, cover up Japan's war crimes, distort historical facts, and pave the way for accelerating its remilitarization.

This was reinforced in Takaichi's speeches earlier this month marking the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where she avoided reaffirming Japan's commitment to its "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" — non-possession, non-production and non-introduction of nuclear weapons.

Japan's "readiness" to use the APEC meeting to improve relations with China and reap the benefits of engagement contrasts sharply with its unwillingness to abandon its policy of antagonizing China, and its consistent refusal to confront history and correct its mistakes. This "double-faced diplomacy" cannot bridge the trust deficit between the two countries that it has caused.

Unless Tokyo reflects on why its relations with Beijing have soured since Takaichi made erroneous and dangerous remarks on China's Taiwan region in November, addresses Japan's history of aggression, halts military expansion and removes its trade and technology barriers, its "hopes" of improving relations with China will remain a wishful thought.

If Japan genuinely wants to repair the relationship, it must take concrete actions rather than make empty statements. The Japanese government should wake up to this reality.

In fact, Japan's right-wing forces are conscious of the tricks they play. For decades, they have mastered the art of recasting Japan from aggressor to victim — whether over the atomic bombings or the current tensions with China that Japan itself has created. They may regard that as a "clever" way to evade responsibility. But such brazen hypocrisy only draws greater attention to the very truth they are trying to bury.