DHAKA: Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe, in an interview published on Saturday, said Japan was ready to be more assertive in guarding against what he said might be an attempt by China to use force to attain its diplomatic goals.

But a top retired Chinese diplomat said any move by Tokyo to contain China could amount to an attempt to conceal ulterior motives in the region and prove to be ‘extremely dangerous’.

Abe, interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, said he had realised during recent meetings with South East Asian leaders that the region was looking for leadership from Tokyo in terms of security amid China’s more forthright diplomacy.

‘There are concerns that China is attempting to change the status quo by force, rather than by rule of law. But if China opts to take that path, then it won’t be able to emerge peacefully,’ he told the newspaper, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1539 HRS, OCT 26, 2013
RoR/JCK