Why This Topic Landed in Japan
The debate over how Japan should handle a rising China moved past alliance blueprints — an "Asian NATO," nuclear deterrence — to a sharper fight over voices at home arguing that Japan should simply give up. On September 15, the multilateral Xiangshan Forum opened in Beijing with representatives from around 100 countries and international bodies. A researcher from Japan's National Institute for Defense Studies who had attended the year before was not invited this time, and the defense attaché could not take part; former PM Hatoyama Yukio, in a private capacity, joined a dialogue and voiced concern over PM Takaichi's stance on Taiwan. That the government-linked participant was left off while Hatoyama appeared was read by many as Japan being deliberately sidelined and its opinion steered — though whether the omission was intentional, and whether it amounts to an influence operation, remains unconfirmed. Separately, an animator's claim that Japan "can never match China however much it arms, so there is no path but continued friendship" was attacked as textbook "defeatism," pulling the argument into a concrete debate over the military balance.
Key Reaction Themes
- Rejection of "defeatism" (most common) — The main line was that urging surrender before a fight lowers the cost of aggression and invites war — an argument grounded in deterrence.
- Concrete force-and-strategy arguments — Practical points on both sides: China must also watch India and Russia and can't commit all its mass, Japan can concentrate forces on the Sea of Japan side, or, conversely, sheer numbers would break through.
- Putting the threat in perspective — Voices citing China's property-bubble collapse and slowdown to doubt overblown threat talk, and others asking whether China would really fight alone in the first place.
- A jaded take on the Xiangshan Forum — Wry notes that it's strange for a former PM who holds no office to be the one invited, and that being left off an event where "you might vanish if you go" is no loss.
What Japanese Netizens Are Saying
Japan's government participant left off the Xiangshan Forum while Hatoyama joins
A defense-institute researcher was not invited to the Beijing security forum, while former PM Hatoyama appeared in a private capacity — read by many as Japan being used.
【悲報】中国安保会議に鳩山が参加 中国記者「中日関係の今後どうなる？」 ↓ 鳩山「高市首相が発言を改めない限り難しい」 ↓ 中国メディア「2026年北京香山フォーラムで、日本の鳩山元首相が中日関係について懸念を表明した」 まんまと利用されてる。 Show more
Sources: Yahoo! news
Comments:
- "Security in China? Is this some new kind of joke?"
- "It's abnormal that the one invited is a former PM who's now a private citizen, not even a sitting lawmaker."
- "Good thing the researcher wasn't invited. Go there and you'd go missing."
- "A security conference in China? For whose security? China, Russia, North Korea? Is there any point in taking part? Bet there are plenty of LDP lawmakers who'd love to go."
"We can't beat China, so surrender" and the fight over the military balance
An argument that arming up is futile against China was branded "defeatism," escalating into a debate over concrete estimates of the two sides' forces.
反戦アニメ作ってみました。アニメーターなりの反戦運動
全く違うよ 天安門事件で経済封鎖を受けていた中国に対し、日本は1992年10月に天皇訪中を実現させ、最大の友好を示したたんだよ これにより西側からの経済封鎖が解除され、中国は経済大国となったけど、その利益は軍事力増強に使われ、砲弾の視標が日本に向けられている 中国って友好を仇で返す国だよ
ネトウヨは中国が攻めてきたらというが、中国が攻めてきたら、少々の軍備をしても間に合わない。中国は日本の5倍の軍事力と日本よりはるかに上をいく科学技術力、日本の経済の5倍のGDPを持っている。これでは大人に喧嘩を挑む赤ん坊だ。まずは友好関係を築き、喧嘩をせず、外交交渉をする。これが中国
だからなんで「軍拡＝中国をタイマンで撃破！」って発想になるんだよ。最初から中国に勝とうとはしてないの。防備を固めることで、相手の侵略コストを上げることが目的なの。「戦争は割に合わないな」と中国に思わせる。それこそが日本にとっての『勝利』なの。いい加減に理解しろよ脳筋かよ。
ネトウヨは中国が攻めてきたらというが、中国が攻めてきたら、少々の軍備をしても間に合わない。中国は日本の5倍の軍事力と日本よりはるかに上をいく科学技術力、日本の経済の5倍のGDPを持っている。これでは大人に喧嘩を挑む赤ん坊だ。まずは友好関係を築き、喧嘩をせず、外交交渉をする。これが中国
見飽きたよ、この「強者に媚びへつらおう」という最近の左翼の流行りの敗北主義論。ウクライナが自国の10倍の国力のロシア相手に4年半以上戦っている現実がまるで見えていない。中野さんの主張は反戦平和ではないです。侵略者への服従です。
ネトウヨは中国が攻めてきたらというが、中国が攻めてきたら、少々の軍備をしても間に合わない。中国は日本の5倍の軍事力と日本よりはるかに上をいく科学技術力、日本の経済の5倍のGDPを持っている。これでは大人に喧嘩を挑む赤ん坊だ。まずは友好関係を築き、喧嘩をせず、外交交渉をする。これが中国
中国に白旗を掲げて降参しろと叫ぶ中野彰子。これは平和主義ではなく敗北主義であり利敵行為をしているだけです。今ウクライナが国力10倍のロシア相手に4年半以上持ち堪えている事実が目に入らないらしい。イギリスが本土の食糧自給率4割の時代に二度の世界大戦に二度とも勝った歴史も知らないらしい。
日本がいくら軍備を増強しても、仮想敵国にしている中国に敵うはずはない。科学技術も経済力も、軍事力もはるかに上だ。 しかも日本は貿易額の2割を中国に依存している。その上、今世界情勢は親米から親中に移っている。
なので「自民党には勝てっこないので降伏して平伏しよう」って言ってるんだけど、何故か頑なに抵抗してるんですよねあの界隈。
最近の左翼の間では本当に「中国様には勝てっこないので降伏し平伏しよう」という思想が広まってるんですね。呆れた…
Sources: 2ch
Comments:
- "Have you ever thought about why China isn't attacking right now? It's because Japan, America, and the countries friendly with Japan are that strong."
- "Before building up arms, build up national strength. It keeps dropping because the elites siphon it off and live in luxury."
- "But China's bubble has already burst and it's collapsing."
- "Even while fighting them, China can't ease its guard against India and Russia, so the forces it can commit are limited. Japan, meanwhile, can concentrate its forces on the Sea of Japan side to defend against China, Russia, or North Korea, whichever it faces."
- "They'll just break through with sheer numbers and that's that. You're dreaming."
- "Russia, which everyone thought was strong on numbers, couldn't even take Ukraine right next door."
- "The point is they can't commit as much mass as people claim."
- "The lefties judge by China's advertised specs, but are there really many cases of China winning a real war on its own? It invades defenseless places like Tibet without mercy, sure."
- "Wait, so the premise is that the U.S. alone would win easily..."
- "The right-wingers who somehow always assume China fights all by itself."
- "The only one that might actually fight alongside China is North Korea, isn't it?"
- "And aren't North Korea and Russia too tied up in Ukraine to bother?"
