It was not a flash of wit when Ishihara made his declaration to "purchase" the islands but rather part of a well-planned conspiracy with ready schemes, strategies and "dreams". A recent Japanese book Senkaku Islands: Magic of Territorial Nationalism, clearly exposes Ishihara's schemes, strategies and dreams and points out the dispute actually provides a platform for Ishihara to pursue "antagonism nationalism". Ishihara's ultimate political purposes are to topple the post-war order built by the US and the United Nations after the Tokyo War Crimes Trials, rid Japan of its position as "concubine of the US" and rearm and revitalize Japan as the "Empire of Japan".

However, he dared not show the spearhead directly to the US because he knew it would be doomed to failure. So he designed very delicate stages. First, provoke China by stressing the Diaoyu Islands are jointly defended by the Japan and the US under the Japan-US Security Treaty. Second, as China will necessarily rise to the provocation and take action, Japanese politicians will proclaim a "State calamity" and seek to amend Japan's Constitution and rearm Japan's Self-Defence Forces. Third, if there is a clash over the Diaoyu Islands, the US will necessarily be involved and the conflict between China and the US will benefit Japan as a bystander, giving it the golden opportunity to get rid of the US and rise again as not only an economic power but also a political and military power.

Ishihara has long been called the "anti-three man": anti-China, anti-the US and anti-government. He hates the US, because his father, a representative of a shipping company, saw almost all the company's ships scuttled during the war. The good old days came to an end, and his hatred toward the US was ignited.

He even dreamed that Japan would win the war and Singapore would be Japan's Light of the South and the whole Pacific Ocean would be Japan's "continental sea". But his dream evaporated.

He can only take an indirect path to rescue his dream of empire, not waging war directly with China or the US, but manipulating the US and China to confront each other according to a scenario directed by him. In his mind, the confrontation between China and the US will create the "opportunity" for Japan to militarily rise again.

But neither China nor the US will endow Japan with this kind of opportunity.

The Japanese government must realize the US will not allow it to have a war with China either. As the Japanese book on the Diaoyu Islands dispute pointed out: "Most people have already seen through Ishihara's crafty plot of sowing discord between China and the US."

The author is a senior researcher with the Institute of Japanese Studies, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(China Daily 01/30/2013 page8)