Not surprisingly, China has again featured in Japan's annual defense report released on Tuesday.

To justify Tokyo's ambition in the region, the Defense of Japan 2012 report plays up its concern over China's military, including Chinese naval vessels' activities in the Pacific Ocean. It says China is likely to expand maritime activities, and conduct operations and training as routine practices in waters near Japan, which Tokyo is increasingly worried about.

Given the report's logic, every move China makes to build its navy and defend its land and waters may be at fault in the eyes of the Japanese. Such prejudice is nothing but a feeble attempt to propagate the outdated "China threat" theory.