Japan's accelerating rightward shift nurtures dangers

Cartoon by Tan Xiguang

Recently, an active-duty officer of Japan's Self-Defense Forces scaled a wall and broke into the Chinese embassy in Japan with a knife, threatening to kill Chinese diplomatic personnel. This serious incident starkly exposes the deep-rooted and harmful influence of Japan's right-wing ideology and its distorted view of history.

In the postwar era, Japan has been racing down the path of military buildup. Japan's defense spending has increased for 14 consecutive years from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2026. Japan has also moved to lift restrictions on arms exports, develop offensive military capability, and seek to revise the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles."

Japan's right-wing forces have gone so far as to attempt a wholesale rewriting of history — erasing the heinous crimes committed by Japanese militarism during its wars of aggression and overseas expansion, whitewashing and covering up its aggression, and even casting itself as a "victim."

If such actions that brazenly challenge historical justice are not met with vigilance and firm opposition, they will pose a grave threat to peace and stability in the region and beyond.