Following the collision of a Chinese fishing boat with two Japanese coastguard vessels in the waters off China's Diaoyu Islands, a Japanese scholar wrote an article comparing Japan's current hawkish faction with the one that gained ground in the country in the early 1930s and pushed Tokyo on a militarist path in the following years.

The hawks that have emerged on the Japanese political stage are led by Seiji Maehara, the Japanese foreign minister, who directed the detention of the Chinese fishing boat captain and insisted that he be tried under Japan's domestic laws. It is Maehara that refused to recognize the existence of a long consensus between China and Japan that they shelve bilateral territorial disputes in the region. He has tried to promote himself as the guardian of Japan's interests and has tried to arouse extremist nationalistic sentiments among the public since he took office as Japan's foreign minister.

By fueling nationalist sentiment, Maehara has no doubt boosted the political capital of the hawks with some of the Japanese public. However, they have clearly miscalculated the political situation at home and abroad. More than five decades after the end of World War II, the majority of the Japanese public remains highly adverse to any indication that their nation has militaristic tendencies.

There is, in fact, growing dissatisfaction among the Japanese public toward Japan's foreign policy. A recent opinion survey indicated that 74 percent of those polled were dissatisfied with the government's foreign policy, mainly as a result of "the government's lack of a long-term diplomatic posture toward China".

The declining public approval indicates the public's distaste for the government's "diplomatic nastiness" and any intentions it might have to reactivate the country's militaristic past.

Any political attempts to control public sentiment and inflame extremist nationalism will compromise Japan's overall and long-term national interests.

Sino-Japanese relations have generally maintained good momentum since the restoration of diplomatic ties, despite the bilateral disputes involving the Diaoyu Islands. This is because a good relationship serves the common interests of both countries, including their aspirations to build win-win economic and trade links and enjoy a stable surrounding environment.

Any attempt by either country to alienate neighbors and befriend distant countries will be detrimental to their common bid to maintain stability and security in the region.

It is expected that China and Japan will once again use wisdom and overcome the lingering Diaoyu Island dispute, as they did in resolving the long-running dispute over the Yasukuni shrine. In doing so they will continue to push forward bilateral ties.

The author is a researcher with

the Institute of Japanese Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.