China sees its competition with Japan grow

ON Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Japan’s 2015 defense white paper, which the Japanese government approved Tuesday. The white paper identified Chinese land reclamation and patrols in the East and South China seas as coercive activities that threaten regional stability. In return, the Chinese accused Japan of threatening Chinese territorial sovereignty, calling on Japan to “refrain from counterproductive tricks.”

The Chinese noted that the paper comes as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is attempting to remove longtime restrictions on the operations of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces — a decision that has greatly alarmed China, a country that has scarcely forgotten being invaded by Japan in the 1930s. On the surface, the spat appears to be over friction in the East and South China seas. However, it stems from a much deeper Chinese anxiety about Japan’s active role in the Asia-Pacific region and abroad, which also threatens China’s regional and global ambitions.