Having Japan as foe

China should have an enduring conflict with Japan to enhance social unity, said a senior Communist Party commentator in the People’s Daily. This comes after Japan said one of its consular officials in Shanghai had killed himself after being blackmailed by Chinese agents over links with a prostitute. Commentator Lin Zhibo quoted the Confucian sage Mencius, saying: "’Without foes and external threats a state will surely perish." He then added: "Having an enemy country and external peril forces us to strengthen ourselves."