Japan should stop playing with fire

History tells us that Japanese militarists have always been good at blaming others for their own faults. In 1937, they started the war of aggression against China, but with the fabricated excuse of one soldier going missing during a military exercise; in 1941, they launched an attack on Pearl Harbor but told the Japanese people and the world that the US forced Japan into war. China, as the victim of these falsifications, should remain on high alert for Japan using its fabricated China threat as an excuse in case any conflict happens.

In the one-to-one debate in the Diet of Japan on June 11, Abe delivered a well-prepared speech on exercising collective defense rights. However, instead of being moved, the assembly burst into laughter when Banri Kaieda, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, said: "The Prime Minister is becoming intoxicated from his own speech."

Vox Populi, a popular column in the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun, warned Abe "to be careful with Constitution". Nor do his plans appeal to the international community. United States investor James Chanos famously said at a conference in May that Abe is the most dangerous figure in Asia.

"Don't play with fire" is a caution that Abe should heed. China is not an easy prey and the East China Sea is not a good place for Abe to try his luck. Instead it is time for the Abe administration to improve relations with China for the peace and stability of the whole region.

The author is a researcher with People's Liberation Army Naval Military Studies Research Institute.