Diversifying Narratives: Perceptions of a Weak Japan Facing a Rising China

Abstract

The idea of a dangerous China is omnipresent in the articulation of Japanese national identity, manifest in the daily media and public opinion, as well as among the policy elite. On 26 July 2013, the Japanese Ministry of Defense released an interim report on its defense posture, calling for an increase in the country’s military capabilities and a more assertive role in regional security, reportedly due to the increased threats from an emboldened China and an unpredictable North Korea (DPRK).¹ Indeed, the Kyodo News Agency headline read, ‘Japan needs greater defensive power given threat from China, N. Korea’.² A further article by the Yomiuri Shimbun on the eve of the publication of this interim report even omitted the DPRK threat, mentioning only China.³ Since 2011, Japanese White Papers on Defense have increasingly portrayed China’s military build-up and its actions in the waters surrounding Japan as threats to national and regional security. This leaves the image of a weak Japan surpassed by and giving in to a growing China, especially on matters such as the economy and security. This constructed image supports the discursive establishment of the need for a tougher China policy, and accordingly provides a justification to adjust defense budgets.