China is at it again, bashing Japan, its favorite whipping boy. But as China regularly whips itself up into frenzy over Japan, it is perhaps easy to forget that China's modern anti-Japanese sentiment is only a recent phenomenon.
China's bashing this time round is because of new laws that will allow the Self Defense Forces (SDF) to engage in collective self-defense.
The laws, pushed through the Diet by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, allow the SDF to help allies like the United States who may be at war, help keep sea lanes open, participate in peacekeeping activities around the world and attempt hostage rescues by armed means.