BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan has made another incorrect step in its territorial disputes with China, as Japanese defense minister used tough words against China, but his judgment is nothing but distortion and misinterpretation of the history.
Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera said Saturday that in retrospect of East Asia history, when China was suffering domestic chaos, it always had disputes with neighboring regions.
He added that as China is now continuing its expansion outwards, Japan should face the challenge and express its stance that "China should not come here."
Onodera's remark is the latest tough words made by Japanese officials amid disputes between the two East Asian countries since the second half of last year, as Tokyo claims sovereignty over China's territory, the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
His remark is also one of the ridiculous accusations against China, as Onodera has totally distorted history, reversing the causality of the miserable past between the two countries.
In Onodera's logic, China had conflicts with neighboring countries because it was in chaos, but the real reason is China was a weak and backward country compared to the then newly-rising world powers, so it was bullied by them, including Japan.
Rising as one of the world powers in the late 19th century, Japan's nature of imperialism decided its expansion outwards. Taking advantage of China's decadence, Japan waged war with China in the 1890s and invaded the country from 1931 to 1945, killing tens of millions of Chinese people and occupying the country's millions of square kilometers of territory.
In comparison, it is Japan that invaded the neighboring countries when facing vulnerable domestic situations. In the 1920s and 1930s, Japan was seriously impacted by the global economic depression and the Tokyo earthquake in 1923 with deaths totaling almost 100,000.
In a bid to transfer domestic woes, Japanese militarists accelerated its war machine and speeded up its expansion plan, occupying northeast China in 1931 and then overall invading the country in 1937, and Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Onodera's remark may refer to some social conflicts that China is now facing, such as a widening income gap, environmental degradation and corruption. However, these issues are China's domestic business and can be solved through its own way, rather than learning from Japan's path.
Lagging behind leaves one vulnerable to invasion -- it is the never-forgotten lesson the Chinese people have learned from their tragic experience. In this sense, China strives to become powerful enough to safeguard its territorial integrity.
In the meantime, China has always reiterated that it will not seek hegemony when it becomes a great power, neither make other people suffer what China has suffered before.
Onodera's remark has showed that Japan has not yet learned the lesson from its rise and fall in history. This is what the real danger that East Asia is facing.
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