Over the past few months, tensions between China and Japan have risen, culminating in the recent intrusion into the Chinese embassy in Japan by an active-duty officer of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF). This is not what China hopes to see. In fact, up till Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made her provocative Taiwan remark in November, Beijing had delivered goodwill gestures to Tokyo with a hope to properly manage this relationship. The root cause of the current tensions is Japan’s move to deviate from its commitment to peaceful development.
As part of the post-World War II international order, Japan is not supposed to have a military. Article 9 of its 1947 constitution renounces the use of force to settle international disputes and the right to maintain land, sea and air forces. The creation of the SDF in the 1950s, which occurred due to changes in the US strategic calculation, was arguably at odds with the constitution. A big change took place in 2014 when Japan changed its interpretation of the Article 9. That step paved the way for the enaction of a security law that allows Japan to use force in so-called collective defense, even if Japan is not attacked. A decade later, Japan’s governing coalition is looking to revive the military ranks it used during World War II for the SDF.
Looking back, there is no doubt that Japan has hollowed out its pacifist constitution through a salami slicing strategy, even though it is, in the eyes of some observers, unable to formally revise the constitution in the short run. It’s extremely questionable that Japan will better contribute to international peace if it owns a normal military. Eight decades after the end of World War II, Japan is yet to fully reflect on its wartime wrongdoings.
The root of the “Taiwan independence” separatist movement is Japan’s half-century colonial rule of the island from 1895 to 1945.
In fact, historical revisionism has grown even more prominent in the country by promoting a narrative that portrays Japan’s wartime aggression as an effort to seek self-survival and liberate other Asian nations from Western imperialism. A report released by Georgetown University in 2021 said that a substantial number of conservative Japanese lawmakers belong to lobby groups that disseminate revisionist views. In the 2025 elections for the upper house of Japan’s parliament, the ultranationalist Sanseito party, known in part for its glorification of Japan’s imperial past, gained over 12% of the vote, a significant rise from 3.33% in 2022.
Furthermore, it is no secret that Takaichi personally holds revisionist views. She repeatedly visited the Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of militarism, before she became the prime minister, including during her tenure as a cabinet member. In a poll conducted in Japan about ten days before she took office, over 40% of respondents supported Takaichi visiting the shrine if she becomes prime minister. The survey’s result sheds light on how much revisionist ideologies have gained ground in the Japanese society.
Therefore, countries that fell victim to Imperial Japan’s bloody crimes are well justified to worry about the possible consequences of Japan’s remilitarization. China is one of them. Due to Japan’s wartime aggression, China suffered more than 35 million military and civilian casualties. As much as China hopes to maintain a friendly relationship with Japan, China can’t accept a remilitarized Japan that increasingly rejects a correct view on wartime history.
However, each time China seriously voices its concerns, Japan’s revisionists describe China as an aggressive power. They typically deny or minimize Japan’s wartime aggression against China, portraying China as a hostile force to be countered. As revisionists increasingly enter Japan’s mainstream political debate, they become more powerful in shaping public opinion. This is probably why a survey published in 2025 by the Pew Research Center found that 86% of Japanese people had an unfavorable view of China, the most negative among all nations surveyed.
So, it’s difficult to argue that the recent embassy break-in in Tokyo is an isolated case. The incident has happened against the backdrop of Japan’s renewed militarism and rising historical denialism. In particular, revisionist views are infiltrating the SDF, with SDF personnel making frequent visits to Yasukuni Shrine. The Asahi Shimbun once reported that some SDF members joined group visits due to peer pressure within the SDF, even though they were personally unwilling to visit the shrine. In 2024, the shrine picked Umio Otsuka, a former SDF commander, as its chief priest.
In the meantime, China has every reason to believe that Japan is utilizing the Taiwan question, an internal affair of China, to push ahead with its remilitarization. Taiwan is a major issue cited by the Japanese government in its move to increase military spending. While “a Taiwan contingency is a Japanese contingency” is not new political rhetoric, Takaichi is the first sitting Japanese leader who openly hints that Tokyo could militarily intervene in the Taiwan question.
Japan’s approach is not only dangerous, but also morally erroneous. The root of the “Taiwan independence” separatist movement is Japan’s half-century colonial rule of the island from 1895 to 1945. Plenty of records show that Imperial Japan carried out an aggressive assimilation campaign in Taiwan, leaving a deep and complex scar on the island’s identity. If Japan sees itself as a responsible power today, it should sincerely offer a helping hand to China’s cause to complete its national reunification. Needless to say, Japan is not doing so. On the contrary, its approach is emboldening Taiwan independence forces. Keiji Furuya, a Japanese lawmaker and a close aide to Takaichi, defends his frequent visits to Taiwan as a natural thing aimed at promoting exchanges between countries with shared values. Such a remark is almost the equivalent of openly endorsing Taiwan independence, so it’s not surprising that Furuya is now on Beijing’s sanction list.
In a 2025 Asahi Shimbun survey, over 60% of Japanese respondents feared that their country could be caught up in a major war in Asia. That was a significant increase from the 50% in a similar survey conducted in 2015. If Japan wants to alleviate its citizens’ growing fear, the first thing to do is to go back to a pacifist track and effectively rein in historical revisionists. That is also a key prerequisite if Japan hopes to forge a healthy relationship with China. At a time when international turbulence is driving many traditional Western allies of the US to seek pragmatic engagement with China, there is no reason why Japan shouldn’t do the same.
The writer is a Beijing-based radio host and political analyst.