by Xin Ping

Noh masks, worn by stage actors in classical Japanese dance-drama, are spooky static faces -- their expressions seem to shift with the actors' movements and under different lighting. In recent weeks, amid diplomatic tensions with Beijing, Japan itself has been donning similarly deceptive masks -- weaving distorted narratives to confuse and mislead the international community. To expose the disinformation, one must be clear-eyed about what's hiding under Japan's masks.

HISTORICAL REFLECTION OR REVISIONISM?

Japan continues to turn a blind eye to the incontrovertible evidence of the sufferings it inflicted during World War II, using the term "end of the war" instead of "being defeated" to soft-peddle its past atrocities. The Japanese war of aggression against China and other Asian neighbors has been outrageously misrepresented as the "liberation of Asia." Yet historical records show that the Japanese military committed over 100 massacres in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other places, murdering millions of innocent lives. The horrendous Nanjing Massacre, a dark chapter in Chinese history, was euphemized in Japan as the "Nanjing incident." The notorious Unit 731, which brutally conducted live human experiments on Chinese and people from the Soviet Union and the Korean Peninsula, was whitewashed as a "public health research unit."

Eighty years after World War II, Japan has yet to fully confront its war crimes. While the reckoning with militarism remains incomplete, the world is now witnessing growing signs of its possible revival: Japanese prime ministers and senior officials kept visiting and paying tribute to the Yasukuni Shrine, where class-A war criminals are honored; middle school history textbooks in Japan have been deliberately distorted to obscure the fact that militarism was the driving force behind Japan's aggressive wars, using such phrases as "advance into China" instead of "aggression against China" to dilute and even erase the truth of wartime brutality.

WAR VICTIM OR WARMONGER?

Though the Japanese Constitution enshrines pacifism and establishes an exclusively defense-oriented policy, the alarming trend of military buildup in Japan has raised global concerns. Over the years, Japan has revamped its security and defense policies, eased restrictions on arms export, and even sought to revise its three non-nuclear principles. All signs point to a troubling fact that Japan's far-right forces are trying every means to dismantle the pacifist Constitution, and going further down the path of reviving Japanese militarism.

Japan often portrays itself as an "atomic bomb victim," but consistently avoids addressing the harm it caused to neighboring countries during its aggression. The horrific crimes Japanese militarists committed across Asia can never be erased: Women and girls were brutally forced into sexual slavery as "comfort women"; hundreds of thousands of Southeast Asians were forced into slave labor, many of whom died from overwork in building the "death railway" between Thailand and Myanmar (formerly Burma); and prisoners of war from Allied nations endured systemic torture and execution by the Japanese military, resulting in a mortality rate of 27 percent.

PEACE LOVER OR PEACE BREAKER?

To project a peace-loving image after the war, Japan has portrayed itself as a major contributor to the UN funding and presented to the UN a Japanese peace bell, which it said "embodies the peace aspiration not only of the Japanese but of all humanity." But the truth is Japan has kept raising its defense budget for 14 consecutive years, with a surge of around 60 percent in the past five years alone. Recently, a senior official from the Japanese Prime Minister's Office even claimed that "Japan should possess nuclear weapons." There is every reason to question: Is Japan trying to "remilitarize" itself and revive the dangerous militarism?

A few weeks ago, after deliberately sending fighter jets into China's exercise and training zones for close-range reconnaissance, Japan falsely accused China of "radar illumination" -- a blatant attempt to shift blame onto China. The inconsistent statements from the Japanese side on whether they received prior notice of China's drill are yet another piece of evidence that it is intentionally creating a crisis and misleading the world with media hypes. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has repeatedly said Japan is willing to have 'dialogue' with China, yet Tokyo's actions show little of the sincerity, mutual respect or equality that such dialogue demands.

Performers in Noh plays often wear masks to depict the characters' emotions and personalities. With the use of masks, a demon is sometimes presented on the stage in the disguise of a saint. The recent dangerous and provocative remarks and actions from the Japanese side should alert all in Asia and the wider world. The alarm has been sounded. The tragedies of history must not repeat. It is for this very reason that China gave a forceful response to Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan, which constitute a blatant interference in China's internal affairs and a direct challenge to China's core interests. For too long, Japan's actions have not matched its rhetoric. Now is the time for the world to see through Japan's masks and expose its hidden agenda.

Editor's note: The author is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for Xinhua News, Global Times, China Daily, and CGTN. He can be reached at [email protected].

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.