Japan's excuse of airspace violations for its planned deployment
of new F-15 jet fighters on Okinawa does not hold water and
reflects a "Cold War mentality" against China, say Chinese
experts.
Foreign media have reported that a Japanese defense ministry
spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the country plans to send 20 F-15
jets to Okinawa by the end of March 2009, the first time for the
fighters to be deployed on the southwestern island.
The plan, designed to enhance defense capabilities in
southwestern Japan, also includes the deployment of an Apache
fighter helicopter on the island of Kyushu, according to the
spokeswoman.
Japan is upgrading jet fighters "as a measure aimed at airspace
violations," she was quoted as saying.
"We can hardly not think of the move as targeted at China, given
the geographic proximity of Okinawa and China," said Shen Shishun,
a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies
(CIIS).
"The excuse of 'airspace violations' sounds pale. It is
unimaginable in our view," said Shen.
"It's sheer Cold War mentality. Japan is over-reacting to
China's rapid development and its growing international influence,
and tends to mark out China because of our differences on
ideology," Shen added.
During the Cold War, Japan's defense policy focused on Hokkaido,
seen as possibly vulnerable from the Soviet Union, while in recent
years its defense forces have gradually moved to the southwestern
coast. Over the past two years, the "China threat" theory has
showed up in Japanese defense white papers.
The number of emergency alerts caused by alleged Chinese
incursions into Japanese airspace has also increased sharply,
Japanese media has claimed.
Despite the present warming ties between China and Japan, the
hardline mentality of Japan's defense policy is unlikely to
fundamentally change, according to Zheng Donghui, another
researcher with CIIS.
Given the proximity of Okinawa and Taiwan, Japan's upgrading of
jet fighters on the island also reflects its concerns about
possible tension across the Taiwan Straits, which is purely China's
internal affair, according to Zheng.
"It is unwise to foster a confrontation over ideological
differences," said Zheng. "Japan should realize that mutual trust
with China is key not only to bilateral relations, but also the
stability of Asia as a whole."
(China Daily, October 11, 2007)
