SINGAPORE -- China appears to be in a political and diplomatic quagmire as it contends with a "new" Japan that is described by Chinese observers and analysts as growing increasingly conserva- tive, hawkish and nationalistic. Beijing is alarmed by Japan's so-called return to "normalcy" under the orchestration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Moves to amend the Japanese Constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 symbolize the worst of China's strategic nightmares.

Opinion polls in Japan show that a majority of Japanese support amending Article 9 to enable Japan's Self-Defense Forces to play a greater role in international peacekeeping duties, and perhaps assume other responsibilities. And in the wake of the "2+2" meeting between American and Japanese foreign and defense ministers on Feb. 19, the U.S.-Japan military alliance is now back on track. Steps have been taken that will enable Tokyo to "rehabilitate" its military and play an active role in America's theater missile defense, which poses a growing concern for Beijing.

Although Beijing was humiliated by the West in the last two centuries and engaged in skirmishes with India and Russia, it was only with Japan that it fought two large-scale bloody wars with devastating consequences. For Beijing, therefore, the rise of Japan's right -- and the specter of the country once again posing a military threat -- is the most disturbing of current trends.