An influential British think tank is receiving substantial fund from the Japanese government on a monthly basis to play up the "China threat" among  high-profile British politicians, according to reports in local British media.       

Reports claim that Henry Jackson Society (HJS), founded in 2005, is receiving 10,000 pounds per month from the Japanese embassy in London to wage a propaganda war against China.     

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HJS's campaign is said to be focussed on prompting critical "Japan issues related to China" among Britain's influential newspapers like The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and The Economist.

According to The Sunday Times, Britain's Former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind was approached last year by HJS to write a critical article on China's participation in Britain's Hinkley Point C Nuclear Plant. The article was published in The Daily Telegraph.

Rifkind in his defense said that he had no knowledge of the deal between HJS and British publication.  

The newspaper made a scathing observation that Tokyo's secret PR campaign clearly reflects its concern over close ties between Beijing and Great Britain.  It further claimed that the PR deal with HJS was sealed last year and may be renewed in coming April.

Beijing and Tokyo have so far not issued any statement on the issue. There has not been any statement from Great Britain either.    

Historically, China and Japan share a very politically strained relationship owing to wartime legacy that continues to cast a shadow on their bilateral relationship. Both Asian countries also share a territorial conflict in the East China Sea region.

Their tense political relationship has encouraged Tokyo to join hands with China's main rivals like the U.S., India, and others to form an anti-Chinese alliance. This alliance has been mainly focussed on piling up pressure on China over the contentious South China Sea dispute.        

TagsBritish Think Tank, china, British and China, Japan, Japan and China, Sir Malcolm Rifkind