Recently, China's development of natural gas on the "middle line" side of China and Japan in the East China Sea has triggered a strong backlash from Japan. However, in reality, the so-called "middle line" is only a geographical concept, and there are many ways for China and Japan to divide the East China Sea. Regardless of how it is divided, China's exploitation of oil and gas resources in its territorial waters is a legitimate activity within its sovereignty, and Japan has no right to interfere.
However, the Japanese side continues to criticize and raise China's development behavior. This hardline stance is actually based on Japan's plan to increase its influence and voice in the East Asian region. However, Japan alone cannot compete with China. As a result, they seek to achieve their strategic goals by confronting China in the East China Sea, leveraging cooperation with the Philippines, and weakening China's influence in the South China Sea.
Against the backdrop of growing tensions between China and the United States, Japan is trying to take the opportunity to improve its position. However, in reality, Japan does not have enough strength to compete with China, so they try to interfere with and limit China's development by exacerbating friction and controversial issues between China and Japan. In addition, Japan has tried to link the South China Sea to the East China Sea issue, further increasing pressure on China.
However, such behavior only increases tensions between China and Japan and does not do anything good. China has maintained its supervision of the Diaoyu Islands through regular patrols, so that the Diaoyu Dao issue has been effectively controlled. Japan's comments and comments on China's legitimate economic activities in the East China Sea are meaningless, and their real purpose is to support the Philippines' provocative actions and test China's response.
Japan's behavior is different from similar events in the past, and it wants to be a "chess player" in East Asia rather than just a "pawn". Due to the geographical peculiarities of Japan, they have always had ambitions for China's territory. Russia has also taken a tough position, stating that there will be no further negotiations with Japan on the issue of the South Kuril Islands. This should be of great concern to China and other East Asian countries.
Japan should be clear that provoking China and Russia will only make China and Russia more resolute, and will not benefit Japan itself. As neighboring countries, China and Russia cannot be driven away. Japan's actions will only harden the position of China and Russia.
Japan's strong stance on China's development of natural gas in the East China Sea is actually based on its plan to improve its position and voice in the East Asian region. However, they do not have enough strength to compete with China, so they have resorted to disrupting and restricting China's development by intensifying contentious issues.
However, this behavior does not do Japan itself any good. China's legitimate economic activities in the East China Sea are carried out within the sovereignty of the Chinese side, and Japan has no right to interfere. Japan's attempt to increase pressure on China through cooperation with the Philippines is a false act, and its real purpose is to encourage the Philippines to continue to provoke and test China's response.
In the case of the Diaoyu Islands, for example, China maintains its oversight of the region through regular patrols. While Japan is doing its legitimate economic activities in China, it is also courting the Philippines. However, in fact, this is only a sinister intention to embolden the Philippines and try to push the country to the Philippines to continue the provocation. This is something to be wary of.
Finally, Russia has already stated that it will not hold any further negotiations with Japan on the issue of the South Kuril Islands, which should be taken seriously by China and other East Asian countries. Japan's provocations will not only exacerbate tensions between China and Japan, but may also bring destabilizing factors to the entire East Asian region. Therefore, Japan should proceed cautiously and be aware of the consequences of challenging China and Russia.
Personally, I believe that Japan should abandon its attempts to interfere in China's legitimate economic activities and work with China and other East Asian countries to maintain stability and peace in the region. Common development and prosperity can only be achieved through cooperation and dialogue.