By Le Shui

乐水

Japan's cabinet recently adopted its defense white paper, the Defense of Japan 2024, which clamors for the "China threat" and claims that Japan is facing "the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II".

日本政府内阁会议近日通过的2024年版《防卫白皮书》，鼓噪“中国威胁论”，宣称“日本正面临二战以来最为严峻的安保环境”。

The defense white paper is an annual report on Japan's defense policy and surrounding security situation released by Japan's Ministry of Defense. Since 2020, it has been spreading false information about China's military development and issues concerning the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, and the Diaoyu Dao, sparing no effort in hyping the "China threat" in order to pave the way for breaking away from the restrictions imposed by the post-WWII order and go back to the militarist path. The Kishida administration also hopes to take this opportunity to buoy its bottom-hitting support rating.

《防卫白皮书》是日本防卫省关于周边安全形势和防卫政策的年度报告。自2020年以来，《防卫白皮书》就中国军力发展、台海、南海、钓鱼岛等问题不断发表不实言论。《防卫白皮书》不遗余力地鼓吹“中国威胁论”，实际是为突破战后体制约束、重新武装铺路。同时，岸田政府也企图借此提振已跌到冰点的民意支持率。

Japan had stuck to the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle in its defense policy ever since the end of WWII, and kept the maximum range of its missiles within 200km. However, it has deviated from this principle in recent years and begun to develop the so-called "stand-off defense capability". It is reported that Japan has announced several new-generation offensive weapons lately, including the ground-to-ship missile with a range of 1,000 km and the hypersonic missile with a range of 500 km, so as to be able to launch long-range attacks at China. At the end of 2022, Japan proposed to increase its total defense expenditure to 43 trillion Japanese Yen within the next five years, which is now 42% completed according to the new defense white paper, registering the highest defense budget since WWII.

自二战结束以来，日本的防务政策长期以“专守防卫”为原则，其导弹的最大射程不过200公里。然而近年来，日本政府违背“专守防卫”原则，发展所谓“防区外防御能力”。据报道，日本近期接连公布了新一代进攻性武器，其中包括射程1000公里的地对舰导弹和射程500公里的高超音速导弹，以图具备远程打击中国的能力。2022年末，日本提出将在未来5年将防卫费总额增至43万亿日元，新版《防卫白皮书》称，该计划已经完成了42%，目前防卫预算创下二战以来的最高纪录。

The new white paper "warned" about the possibility of a serious situation in East Asia that resembles the Ukraine crisis and said China's increasing military activities may escalate tension across the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwan question is China's internal affair, and the one-China principle is the political foundation for the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Japan, which is clearly stated in the China-Japan Joint Statement in 1972. Casting its commitment to the wind, Japan is trying to interfere in China's internal affairs by arousing public opinions and even taking military actions. Its repeated hype of the Taiwan question is essentially aimed at containing China's development by using the Taiwan region as a pawn.

新版《防卫白皮书》 “警告”东亚有可能发生类似乌克兰危机的严重事态，并宣称中国军事活动的增加可能导致台海紧张局势升级。台湾问题是中国的内政问题，而且一个中国原则是中日建交的政治基础，被明确写入1972年的《中日联合声明》。如今，日本罔顾当年的承诺，企图通过制造舆论甚至采取军事行动来干涉中国内政。日本反复炒作台湾问题，其根本目的在于以台湾为棋子来遏制中国发展。

Additionally, the new white paper is exaggerating surrounding security threats, pointing fingers at China-Russia joint operations, and claiming sovereignty over the Dokdo islets (called Takeshima by Japan), the disputed region between Japan and the ROK, against which Seoul has lodged stern representations. In June this year, Japan, in violation of the provisions of the United Nations Commission on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), unilaterally announced its decision to expand the continental shelf of the Ogasawara Plateau, which is located on the east side of the Father Island in the Ogasawara Islands, by 120,000 square kilometers. In July, it signed the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with the Philippines that made their partnership all but an alliance and allowed them to station troops on each other's territory. The series of moves have broken the boundary set by the pacificist Constitution and become more clearly aggressive.

除此之外，新版《防卫白皮书》还渲染周边安全威胁，对中俄联合行动指手画脚，对日韩争议领土独岛宣示主权——韩国政府已经就此向日本提出严正抗议。今年6月，日本政府违反《联合国海洋法公约》规定，单方面宣布将位于小笠原群岛父岛东侧的小笠原海台海域大陆架扩大12万平方公里；7月，日本又与菲律宾签署具有准联盟性质的《互惠准入协定》，互相允许对方在本国领土上部署军队。日本的一系列举动已突破和平宪法的约束，具有明显的“攻击性”意味。

In fact, the Kishida administration's deliberate exaggeration of the so-called "surrounding threats" is just an excuse for its military expansion and war-ready efforts. Especially given the nose-diving support rating, making external provocations to divert domestic attention has become the last resort that Kishida can take. A poll on July 11 showed that the support rating for the Kishida cabinet has fallen to 15.5%, lower than the 20% threshold for "stepping down" and a new low for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that has been at the helm since 2012. About 40% of Japanese people believe that Kishida should be voted out in the next Lower House election. With LDP's presidential election just two months away, Kishida, to stay on his position, has to put up a tough image by appearing provocative in order to save his pathetic rating.

其实，岸田政府刻意夸大所谓“周边威胁”，不过是为其扩军备武寻找借口。尤其是在当前民意支持率一路走低的背景下，通过对外挑衅来转移民众视线，似乎已经成为岸田政府的最后一根“救命稻草”。7月11日的日本民调显示，岸田内阁的支持率已下滑至15.5%，低于普遍认为的20%的“下台水域”，更创下了自民党自2012年执政以来的新低。目前，有约四成的日本民众认为岸田应该在下一届众议院选举中下台。两个月后即将举行自民党内部的总裁选举。为了能够保住总裁大位，此刻岸田不得不竭力摆出对外挑衅姿态来包装其“强人”形象，以挽救其惨不忍睹的支持率。

Japan, at one time, brought unbearable suffering to Asian countries because of its militarist actions. It has also once worked economic wonders by opting for the path of peace and development. Right now, the Japanese government should bear firmly in mind its historical lessons and contribute to peace and stability in the Asian Pacific region rather than trumpet the "China threat" all day long and instigate regional confrontation. We advise the Japanese side to learn from history, stop going down the wrong road of military expansion before it's too late, and avoid repeating its tragic mistake of falling into the militarist path.

日本曾因奉行军国主义给亚洲国家带来深重苦难，也曾因选择和平发展道路而创造了举世瞩目的经济奇迹。当下，日本政府应当汲取历史经验与教训，为维护亚太地区和平与稳定贡献力量，而不是整日炒作所谓“中国威胁论”，煽动地区对抗情绪。希望日本政府以史为鉴，在扩军备武的错误道路上悬崖勒马，避免重蹈军国主义的历史覆辙。

Editor's note: Originally published on china.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.