"There must be eliminated for all time the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest, for we insist that a new order of peace, security and justice will be impossible until irresponsible militarism is driven from the world." Eighty years have passed since the smoke of WWII dissipated, yet the solemn provisions of the Potsdam Proclamation still echo powerfully today.

However, Japan's right-wing politicians have long cast aside the tragic lessons of aggression, and continue to take actions that deny their history of invasion and challenge the post-war international order. Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, has, from the very outset of her tenure, clamored for the use of force to intervene in the Taiwan question. Such blatant rhetoric constitutes a direct challenge to China's core interests, a grave violation of international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and a serious disruption of the post-war international order. It is an open provocation to the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people and to the peoples of Asian countries that once suffered under Japanese aggression.

The atrocities committed by Japanese aggressors in modern history are too numerous to record. From half a century of colonial rule over China's Taiwan region, marked by the plundering of resources and the brutal suppression of local resistance, to the brazen orchestration of the September 18th Incident under the pretext of "self-defense," which ignited Japan's full-scale war of aggression against China; from the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that plunged the Pacific into war, to the forced conscription of comfort women, the waging of biological and chemical warfare, and the perpetration of horrific massacres... Japanese militarism inflicted immeasurable suffering on the peoples of Asia, including China, and indeed the whole world.

As a defeated country in WWII, Japan should deeply reflect on its history of aggression and firmly pursue a path of peaceful development. However, the persistent ambitions of right-wing forces are driving Japan further down the path of militarism: lifting restrictions on collective self-defense, substantially revising security policies, developing offensive weapons, exporting lethal arms, establishing its first dedicated space force, and expanding the organizational structure of the Self-Defense Forces' cyber units...

Since taking office, Sanae Takaichi has openly displayed her expansionist ambitions: planning to achieve the target of defense spending reaching 2 percent of GDP two years ahead of schedule, attempting to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles within the three key national security documents, including the National Security Strategy, and signaling intentions to develop nuclear-powered submarines... Such actions inevitably raise global concern: Will Japan, which was prohibited from rearming after WWII, once again become an aggressor?

History has long proven that once unleashed, the ambitions of Japanese militarism inevitably pose a grave threat to its Asian neighbors. Takaichi's remarks on the Taiwan question mirror the logic once used by Japanese militarism to justify aggressive wars under the pretexts of "lifelines" and "survival-threatening situation." Yet the world will never allow Japan's right-wing forces to reverse the course of history, nor will it permit Japanese militarism to rise from the ashes.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of the recovery of Taiwan. At such a critical juncture, what Japan should do is to deeply reflect on its history of colonial rule and aggression in Taiwan, to confront the grave crimes committed by Japanese militarism, and to act with utmost prudence on matters related to Taiwan and historical questions. If Japan obstinately pursues the wrong course, refuses to correct its mistakes, and continues to evade historical responsibility, all countries and peoples who uphold justice have every right to revisit and reexamine Japan's historical crimes. The international community will never allow right-wing forces in Japan to challenge the post-war international order, nor will it permit Japan to retrace the disastrous path of militarist aggression.