Japan's diplomatic hypocrisy is fooling no one

Editor's note: Xu Ying is a Beijing-based international affairs commentator for CGTN. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described China as an "important neighbor" and pledged to promote a "constructive and stable" relations with Beijing in her policy speech on October 5. Such diplomatic language may sound like a reassuring commitment to regional stability and constructive engagement. But for anyone closely following Tokyo’s actions, the gap between its words and deeds is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

The fundamental problem is not a lack of diplomatic vocabulary. It is the widening contradiction between what Takaichi's administration says about China and what it does toward China. Japan's increasingly confrontational security policies, interference in China's internal affairs and attempts to strengthen military capabilities are contributing to tensions in the region. Against this backdrop, calling China an important neighbor risks sounding less like a genuine strategic commitment than a rhetorical cover for a fundamentally adversarial policy.

The disconnect has become a defining feature of the Takaichi administration's China policy. While the speech pays lip service to the importance of stable relations, it also emphasizes that Japan will "assert what must be asserted" on security issues and continues to promote the so-called free and open Indo-Pacific vision. Presented as a framework for regional cooperation and rules, the concept has increasingly been intertwined with exclusive security arrangements and bloc politics directed, in practice, at constraining China.

There is an even more serious contradiction in Japan's accelerating remilitarization. Tokyo has continued to expand defense spending, revise security doctrines and acquire or develop capabilities with increasingly offensive implications. The distinction between "defensive defense" and the ability to conduct operations far beyond Japan's immediate territory has become increasingly blurred. For a country whose modern history includes devastating aggression across Asia, such a trajectory inevitably raises legitimate concerns among its neighbors.

The Taiwan question makes the situation more dangerous still. Takaichi has previously suggested that a "Taiwan contingency" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, potentially creating a legal and political basis for military involvement. Such statements go far beyond ordinary expressions of concern about regional security. They risk encouraging external interference in an issue that concerns China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and on which the political foundations of China-Japan relations are already clearly established.

The one-China principle is not an abstract diplomatic slogan. It is a fundamental political issue concerning China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and it is also an essential premise underpinning China-Japan relations. Japan's own commitments on this question cannot simply be diluted whenever Tokyo's security calculations change. If Japan truly regards China as an important neighbor, it should demonstrate that recognition through restraint, rather than repeatedly testing China's red lines.

Japan's credibility problem, moreover, did not begin with contemporary strategic competition. It is deeply rooted in history. Genuine reconciliation between neighbors requires historical honesty. Yet Japan's political establishment continues to face criticism over attempts to whitewash its wartime aggression, visits by politicians to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, and insufficient reflection on the suffering inflicted upon China and other Asian countries.

History is not an obstacle deliberately erected by China to prevent better relations. It is an unavoidable political reality. The memories of war remain deeply embedded in the societies that experienced Japanese aggression, and the lessons of that history cannot simply be erased in the name of contemporary geopolitics. A country seeking trust from its neighbors must first demonstrate that it has learned from its past.

The Chinese side has consistently emphasized that in international relations, what matters is not merely what a country says, but what it does. Tokyo's diplomatic rhetoric therefore deserves to be judged against its policies, military deployments, political statements and actions concerning China’s core interests.

Developing China-Japan relations cannot depend on carefully crafted phrases or temporary diplomatic gestures. It requires political sincerity and consistent action. If Tokyo genuinely wants to prevent bilateral ties from entering another downward spiral, it should begin by returning to the political foundations established by the four China-Japan political documents, honoring its commitments on the Taiwan question, exercising prudence on security issues and abandoning confrontation for confrontation’s sake.

Japan should also recognize that as two major Asian economies and close geographic neighbors, Beijing and Tokyo have far more to gain from stability, economic cooperation and peaceful coexistence than from military rivalry and bloc confrontation.

An important neighbor is defined not by diplomatic labels but by conduct. It means respecting sovereignty, honoring commitments, confronting history honestly, managing differences responsibly and pursuing cooperation where interests converge. It means understanding that security cannot be achieved by making another country feel less secure.

If Japan truly wants China to be an important neighbor, the answer is straightforward: Make its actions match its words. Until then, the phrase will remain little more than diplomatic decoration, which is pleasant to hear, but increasingly difficult to believe.

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