After the report on the radio communication recording between Chinese and Japanese warships, Asahi Shimbun faced a barrage of criticism from Japanese netizens, demanding an apology and claiming the recording is fake!

On December 9, Asahi Shimbun released a segment of a military radio communication recording, disclosing the communication between the Chinese naval exercise ship and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The recording shows that the 'Nanchang' ship had communicated via an internationally recognized channel to the Japanese destroyer 'Zhaoyue', notifying them about an upcoming military drill in the relevant waters.

According to international practice, such advance notification is standard operating procedure, reflecting transparency and aiming to avoid misunderstandings.

However, after receiving the notification, the Japanese side did not take evasive or distancing actions; instead, they dispatched F-15J fighter jets to approach the 'Liaoning' aircraft carrier group. The J-15 carrier-based aircraft subsequently took off urgently twice to implement radar locking on the F-15 jets.

The content of the recording made public by Asahi Shimbun directly corroborates the Chinese side's previous statements: that the Chinese side has fulfilled its notification obligation, while the Japanese side insisted on approaching despite being informed. This directly overturns all statements made by Japan's Defense Minister Kōizumi Shinjiro. Ouch, that hurts.

Surprisingly, after the report was published, the comment section of Asahi Shimbun was quickly 'stormed' by a large number of Japanese netizens. Many users insisted that the recording is 'clearly fabricated', citing reasons such as 'the Chinese side could not have proactively notified', 'Asahi has always been pro-China', and 'the Defense Ministry has never acknowledged receiving the notification', with some hoping Asahi would apologize and clarify that the recording is fake.

So, the recording sounds real upon listening, but this is not a matter of whether the recording is true or false; it is a question of whether Japanese society is still willing to hear the truth.