Japan's alleged anti-China diplomatic scandal is despicable

Ten thousand pounds per month. That's the money the Japanese Embassy in London has been paying to a British think tank for its work to hype up China threat and propagate against China-UK relations, said a Sunday Times report.

As an official representative of a sovereign country in Britain, the Japanese Embassy's act, if proved to be true, is surprising and despicable.

In this alleged diplomatic scandal, the embassy has hired the Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a right-wing think tank, to encourage high-level British politicians and journalists to "voice opposition to Chinese foreign policy."

A recent example is an article published in August 2016 questioning China's involvement in Britain's Hinkley Point C nuclear plant. Former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind has confirmed that he had been approached by the HJS to put his name to the article.

Fear over China's rapid development and its sound relations with Britain has been seen as a major motive behind the Japanese Embassy's indecent campaign against its neighbor.

But such a trick will neither help Japan, whose economy is struggling,nor deter China's growing ties with Western countries. It only reveals a serious deficiency in Tokyo's self-confidence.

Meanwhile, one cannot help wondering if there are other Japanese embassies that are working on similar projects to tarnish the image of China.

Since the disclosure of the allegations, the Japanese government and media as well as the embassy in London have chosen to remain silent.

Silence is by no means gold in this case. It probably means embarrassment.

The trick carried out by the HJS did not work. The British government gave the green light to the Hinkley Point C project. It is a sign of bilateral confidence in and mutual commitment to a "golden era" of Britain's post-Brexit relations with China.

For the HJS, which poses as "a policy shaping force fighting for the principles of free society," its involvement in this money-driven trick is a slap on its own face.