During Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida's two-day visit to India on January 17 and 18, he said that the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh," which was established largely on the three areas of China's Tibet, was "an Indian territory." Following a protest lodged by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kishida defended himself, telling reporters in Brussels on January 19 that "India basically and effectively controls [the region], and China and India are continuing consultations on the border issue. I made the remark taking these facts into account."

Kishida's remarks have showed Japan's clear tactic of taking sides over disputed territory by backing India and that Tokyo's ambition goes beyond just strengthening its relationship with India.

Since tensions between Beijing and Tokyo have risen in recent years, especially fuelled by the escalation of the Diaoyu Islands issue, Japan has more than once deliberately stepped into China's territorial disputes with other countries. For example, it has provided ships and assistance for the Philippines and pledged to help the country defend its "remote islands."

This unveils Japan's intent of "uniting" the countries that have territorial disputes with China, in an attempt to create a strong impression that Japan, along with China's other neighboring countries, is bullied by a rising China. In the case of a conflict, Japan can put the blame on China instead of itself.

This is not the first time that Japan has cozied up to India. When he visited India for the first time as prime minister in 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the Indian Parliament that Tokyo regarded New Delhi as a good friend, and that Indian jurist Radhabinod Pal, who was the only one that cast a dissenting vote against convicting Japanese officials of war crimes during the Tokyo trials, was "highly respected even today by many Japanese for his noble spirit of courage." Such inappropriate remarks hurt not only the feelings of the Chinese people, but also the interests of Japan's ally, the US.

But India is not going to fall for Japan's tricks easily. As an emerging power, India has made its political philosophy very clear when it comes to Japan's attitude toward history. Successive governments in India have all clearly expressed that Japan should reflect deeply on its wartime past.

Meanwhile, New Delhi is well aware that it should seek a wise balance in its relations with China and Japan. In the economic realm, for example, the existing Sino-Indian bilateral trade volume has exceeded $70 billion, almost three times the economic and trade volume between India and Japan. Not only that, China's experience of development is a positive lesson for India, and India has also showed its interest to learn from it.

In this context, wrecking the relationship between China and India would only show that Japan is a country lacking noble manners, and that it will resort to any means in order to achieve its goals.

As for China, even though Sino-Japanese relations have hit a historical low point at the moment, there is no need to be too concerned about Japan's improper speeches or actions, because Japan has already humiliated itself by losing dignity as a major country.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Li Aixin based on an interview with Geng Xin, a senior research fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, and chief researcher of the Japan-based China Studies Think Tank. liaixin@globaltimes.com.cn