This article introduces a lecture by Professor Tomohide Murai of Tokyo International University, featured on the front and second pages of the Sankei Shimbun.
He argues that China uses Japan as a scapegoat to divert domestic dissatisfaction and that maintaining a certain level of military power is the most rational way to preserve peace between the two nations.

2016-02-04

The following is taken from articles published on the front page and page two of today’s Sankei Shimbun.

Anyone with a sound mind—excluding those who subscribe to and are indoctrinated by Asahi Shimbun–style thinking and who brandish superficial moralism—would recognize this as a truly correct argument.

At the 42nd Osaka “Seiron” Roundtable lecture held on the 3rd at the Hilton Osaka, Professor Tomohide Murai of Tokyo International University spoke on “The Essence of China’s External Strategy.”

Professor Murai stated that maintaining peace between Japan and China requires Japan to possess a certain level of military power, which he described as a rational approach.
He also expressed the view that tensions between Japan and China reflect China’s domestic problems.

He explained that the Chinese Communist Party prioritizes its own rule above all else and uses Japan—which it believes will never strike back—as a scapegoat to divert public dissatisfaction.

Furthermore, he noted that China considers even small-scale military clashes as part of peacetime diplomacy, creating the risk that situations Japan perceives as war may arise.

He added that China is currently engaging in “public opinion warfare” based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War in order to divide Japanese society, and that Japan must be capable of responding effectively to “small wars” in order to maintain peace.