Japanese website quoted him as saying security bill would target China
China on Monday urged Japan to explain a recent statement in Japanese media quoting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as allegedly saying Japan's security bill would target China.
Hua Chunying, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Chinese government is aware of the media reports of Abe's alleged statement and if the reports are accurate, Japan should clarify and explain the matter.
According to gendai.ismedia.jp, a Japanese online media site, Abe met with the heads of local media outlets at a restaurant in June and after drinking red wine, he started commenting on Japan's Democratic Party, the new security bills and international relations.
In one of his claims, Abe allegedly said the new security bill would target China over the South China Sea issue. He also said Japan exercises collective self-defense so it could "bash" China together with the U.S.
An employee at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Global Times Monday that they have not read the reports but added that he personally does not believe Abe made such a claim.
The statement came after Japan revised its security bills which allow its military to fight abroad for the first time since the World War II and its increasingly active involvement in maritime issues with China, which Hua referred to at the conference as "a series of negative behaviors."
"It is increasingly clear that Japan is getting involved in the South China Sea issues. This is to distract China from the East China Sea, where Japan is attempting to provoke trouble on the Diaoyu Islands. Abe's comments are aimed at attracting more military support," Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
Abe's statement may have reflected his true feelings as the comments - though made after a drink - were largely consistent with the government policy, said Zhou Yongsheng, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University.
"It may have exposed the core target of the Japanese government. It is an unhealthy, obsolete and antagonistic mentality for Abe to attempt to spread hatred and Cold War mentality to the public," Zhou told the Global Times.
Despite Abe's aggressive attitude toward its revised security bills, Geng Xin, a research fellow from the Chongyang Institute of Financial Studies of the Renmin University of China, said it is not likely that war between China and Japan would happen as Japan is not capable of going to war with China with its current economic situation and military equipment.
