For the life of me I cannot understand why reports such as the one reproduced below garner much press attention. Furthermore, similar reports in the United States draw the ire of several people whom obviously have very little military understanding.

Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force has drawn up a detailed plan in preparation for any invasion by China, the Asahi Shimbun reported Monday. In the top-secret defense document drawn up by Army headquarters, Japan designates North Korea, China and Russia as military threats.

According to the plan, the threat of an invasion by North Korea exists, the threat from China slight and from Russia very slight. The paper said the possibility of terrorist attacks was also rated slight. Japan in the past designated any invasions from the three countries “Crisis X,” “Y” and “Z.” The 2003-2004 plan is the first by Japan to draw up a detailed response to an invasion from China, the daily reported.

It is extremely common for nations to have attack and defense plans for a variety of nations. Following World War I, England had a plan to attack the United States and defend from a U.S. invasion. The United States has a plan for Mexico now. Neither mean any such war will ever take place, but that is what some in the military are paid to do; write contingency plans just in case.

Now what is interesting about this scenario as reported, assuming it is factual, is that Japan has placed a higher emphasis on North Korea than China. China, after all, has led its citizens through the gambit of demonizing Japan for years. Then again, the two nations are also key trading partners with each other and it appears the only nation on China’s ‘wish list’ is Taiwan. North Korea on the other hand is run by a maniacle dictator and frankly no one knows what he intends to do.