Why does Japan, the perpetrator, always play the role of 'victim'?

Editor's note: Zhou Xin is an observer of international affairs. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Recent statements by senior Japanese officials, including its foreign minister, defense minister and national security advisor, have continued to sensationalize the so-called radar illumination incident involving Chinese military aircraft and Japan Self-Defense Force planes during their interactions.  

Let us first examine the full facts of the alleged radar illumination. On December 6, 2025, the Chinese Liaoning Carrier Strike Group was conducting routine training exercises east of the Miyako Strait, having twice notified Japan in advance of the time and location. While a Chinese military aircraft was conducting routine radar scanning to ensure training safety, a Japanese F-15 fighter jet intruded without authorization for close-range reconnaissance, closing to within 50 kilometers of the Chinese aircraft.  

Shortly afterwards, Japan twisted the facts, accusing China of "radar illumination." Only after China released conclusive recordings of radio notifications did Japan reluctantly admit that it had received prior notice, then shifted to complaining that China's information was "insufficient." This self-directed drama of "provoking first, then playing the role of victim" is truly beneath contempt.

Japanese media revealed that after the incident, officials at Japan's Ministry of Defense acknowledged that the on-site situation was complex and that clarifying the facts should come first. However, the defense minister insisted on holding an immediate press conference, leaving many Japanese media outlets no time to attend. Clearly, the facts were never the priority; Japan's aim was to play the role of victim and mislead the international community at the earliest opportunity with the claim that "China bullied us."  

This is yet another clumsy performance in Japan's longstanding fabrication of a "victim narrative," following the same pattern as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's provocations on China's Taiwan region and her subsequent pretense of grievance over "China's refusal to engage."

Such distortion of right and wrong is neither an isolated case nor directed solely at China. It is a recurrent tactic Japan employs to evade responsibility and refurbish its image.

Remarkably, Japan has even extended this "victim narrative" to its core ally, the United States, most notably regarding the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For decades, Japan has highlighted the suffering of Japanese civilians while calling itself the "only country to have suffered a nuclear attack," yet remains silent on why the bombs were dropped and who started the war that caused tens of millions of casualties across Asia.  

During former U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima in 2016, where he offered no apology, his embrace with survivors were extensively leveraged by Japan to bolster its "victim" image. The U.S. president was plainly instrumentalized. As Charles Sweeney, the U.S. pilot who participated in both atomic missions, incisively noted: Japan ignores its own war crimes, manufactures new narratives to cast itself as a victim, and avoids discussing its role in starting the war.

These instances are but glimpses of Japan's systematic efforts to obscure its past as an aggressor and refashion itself as a victim on both historical and contemporary issues. As noted by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Japanese right-wing forces are habitual purveyors of false narratives. They frame the war of aggression against Asian neighbors as "liberating Asia," downplay the horrendous Nanjing Massacre as the "Nanjing Incident," whitewash the notorious Unit 731 as a "public health research unit" and deny atrocities such as the forced recruitment of "comfort women."  

After the war, Japan has painstakingly crafted a "war victim narrative" while avoiding any mention of militarism as the root cause of the war. It professes "exclusively defense-oriented policy" and "passive defense," yet steadily loosens the military constraints and lifts restrictions on collective self-defense.

Of particular concern for the region and the international community is that, behind this "victim narrative," Japan is pursuing its most radical military buildup since World War II (WWII). Hyping "victimhood" and a "survival crisis" serves as a pretext to justify sharp increases in military spending, revisions of the pacifist constitution and the development of offensive weapons.  

Recently, Japan approved its largest-ever defense budget, and senior officials close to Takaichi have openly advocated for nuclear weapons, exposing ambitions to revise Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles. This echoes pre-WWII militarist propaganda about a "survival crisis." In 1931, Japan claimed that access to China's northeast was vital to its survival, using that as a pretext to launch the September 18 Incident and occupy the region. Later, it declared the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" a battle for survival, spreading war across Asia. The decision to attack Pearl Harbor was similarly framed as existential. Takaichi proclaims, "Japan is back." One must ask: What kind of Japan is coming back?

History cannot be rewritten, and the international community sees clearly that Japan's promotion of a "victim narrative" is self-deception and a trampling of historical justice: It will only lead Japan back to old mistakes. Obsession with playing the victim will not earn respect or trust; it will only hinder genuine reconciliation with Asian neighbors and the wider world. The international community, especially the victorious parties of WWII, must see through Japan's "victim narrative" and guard against the resurgence of Japanese militarism. Japan's "victim" act must stop.

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