It mustn’t be rattled by growing Japan-India ties
China has reacted to increasing cooperation between Japan and India as if it is under a terrible siege. Media reports from Beijing and other sources seem to suggest that Japan (in collaboration with India) is executing a nefarious design to trap China and bring it down to its knees. This was the exact sentiment expressed by the Global Times on Thursday, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh concluded his three-day visit to Japan. In its editorial, tellingly titled, ‘Diplomatic row due to disoriented Japan’, the state-run daily described Mr Singh's trip as yet another piece in Japan's “puzzle game” to “encircle China”, especially when viewed alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent visit to Myanmar. For decades, Myanmar has been China's veritable satellite nation, but in the past two years it has sought to integrate itself into the global order. But Beijing seems displeased; especially when the developments are viewed
vis-a-vis Japan. Beijing sees Japan's foreign policy as an anti-China campaign, which is precisely why it is not just wary but also downright contemptuous of Tokyo strengthening ties with New Delhi, particularly in the security arena. little else explains a strongly-worded Global Times article that terms the ‘Democratic Security Diamond' (an informal military coalition between Japan, India, the US and Australia proposed by Mr Abe) as a “conspiracy of petty burglars”. The article even accuses Japan of using the recent flare-up on the India-China border — that, it explains, both countries resolved amicably — to “provoke dissension”.
This kind of paranoia is not just misplaced but also entirely unbecoming of a regional power. China is the world's second largest economy and has one of the best militaries in the world. It is also an ancient civilisation with a rich heritage that today is home to 1.3 billion people. So, China is big and strong and influential. It has no reason to feel threatened either by Japan or India; and surely it mustn’t worry about Myanmar. In fact, even Global Times says as much: “China should just take it easy”. That Beijing continues to fret and fume over imagined global conspiracies against itself only exposes the Asian giant’s insecurities. And perhaps, the roots of those fears also lie within. That China's assertiveness in its neighbourhood — its efforts to grab the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands from Japan, violate India's territorial integrity etc — have only added to the threat perception surrounding it, is undeniable. If Beijing really wants to earn the respect of its neighbours, it needs to dilute its belligerence and infuse trust.
