Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi officially stated regarding the radar illumination incident involving Chinese Liaoning aircraft carrier fleet fighter jets targeting Japan's Self-Defense Force aircraft yesterday. This marks the first time in over a month that Takaichi has spoken on the China issue outside of the Diet. So how should we evaluate Takaichi's remarks this time?

First, in her remarks about China, Takaichi emphasized three key points:

First, Takaichi expressed deep regret over the occurrence of such events, stating that Japan has lodged a strong protest with the Chinese side and sternly demanded that the Chinese side prevent such incidents from happening again.

Second, Takaichi emphasized that Japan will closely monitor the movements of the Chinese military and take all possible measures to strengthen vigilance and surveillance activities around Japan.

Third, Takaichi also stated that Japan will respond calmly and resolutely.

From Takaichi's speech, it can be seen that it largely continues the basic viewpoint expressed by Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi earlier today. The core of her message revolves around two keywords mentioned by Takaichi—'resolute' and 'calm.' The term 'resolute' implies that Japan will inevitably respond and retaliate, thus Japan's reconnaissance activities targeting the Liaoning fleet are unlikely to cease, and there may even be new countermeasures around the Diaoyu Islands. However, Takaichi also emphasizes 'calm,' suggesting that Japan will likely control the scale of its response, including the distance of reconnaissance, in order to prevent the Chinese side from escalating the confrontation level or even using vessels for fire control radar targeting.

Therefore, based on the recent developments, the confrontation between China and Japan is presenting a new situation characterized by full-spectrum, long-term, but medium to low intensity. The game between China and Japan is gradually transitioning from economic and trade issues and technology to more sensitive and risky military domains. Although both sides wish to conduct crisis management and avoid unlimited escalation of conflicts, with the continuous increase of such risky events, it is difficult to ensure that there won't be a possibility of accidental escalation. This indeed adds significant uncertainty to the future development of China-Japan relations and makes it difficult to see the potential for easing relations between the two sides.