Japanese politicians, including Abe, have only themselves to blame, because their brinkmanship is the root cause of the deterioration of China-Japan economic ties.
They have also been stoking fears about the so-called "China threat" in the broader Asia-Pacific region and trying to build a coalition of countries against China.
For many in China, Abe's latest remarks are just part of an attempt by the Japanese government to depict China as the villain and gain an upper hand in the territorial dispute.
But Tokyo is doomed to lose the gamble, as more and more countries have come to realize that China acts responsibly in the international arena and its development is a real blessing for the whole world.
Meanwhile, Japan has raised concerns in capitals worldwide that its increasingly hawkish policy toward China will further escalate the situation and pose a serious risk to regional peace and stability.
For Japan, its fragile economy is in urgent need of the opportunities a sound China-Japan relationship brings, but Japan's unwise foreign policy has made these opportunities harder to come by.
Thus it is of pressing importance that Abe immediately arrest his country's self-destructive tendency and put its foreign relations and economic recovery back on track so as not to waste his second chance at the top.
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