Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has criticized China for enhancing its military capabilities “without sufficient transparency”.
Koizumi’s comments came while speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday.
The minister said China has continued to increase defense spending at high levels and the country’s military activities are of “grave concern” to Japan and the international community.
Relations between the Asian countries are at their worst in years after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takachi warned in November that Japan could intervene if China attacks Taiwan – the self-ruled democratic island that China claims as its territory.
Japan’s Defense Minister refutes claims of ‘neo-militarism’
Under Takaichi, Japan is strengthening its domestic arms industry and fostering deeper ties with its defense partners around the axis of the pacifist principles that shaped its security policy after World War II.
Earlier in May, China’s Foreign Ministry urged Asia-Pacific countries to remain vigilant and “jointly oppose” Japan’s “reckless actions of neo-militarism.”
Koizumi on Sunday rejected China’s accusations that Japan is adopting such a policy.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” the Defense Minister said.
“Think about it. There is a country that has a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers,” Koizumi said, without naming China.
“Japan has no such weapons. And, yet, Japan is labeled the ‘new militarism’.” “Isn’t this strange?” He said.
But on the stage in Singapore, China’s representative Major General Meng Jiangqing raised his voice against Japan.
He said, “I have deep doubts whether a country that has not completely shed the toxic legacy of militarism is qualified to talk extensively about defense cooperation on international occasions, and whether it can win the trust of the international community, especially the Asian countries it once invaded.”
Japan will continue to strengthen the army, is ready for talks
Koizumi said Japan will “continuously build and continuously update its defense capabilities with a high level of transparency,” including in the areas of cyber and space defense as well as artificial intelligence, uncrewed systems.
Tokyo is “determined” to play a new role in enhancing defense cooperation in the Asia-Pacific and promoting deterrence in the region, he said.
He said, “Japan’s past as a peace-loving nation has been valued by the region and the international community. This fact cannot be shaken by false claims, because it is a fact.”
He said Japan’s post-war record “speaks for itself”, citing the country’s adherence to international law, commitment to the UN Charter, and efforts to maintain a “free and open international order”.
Meanwhile, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun skipped the top Asian defense summit for the second consecutive year.
Koizumi said he was “sad” not to meet his Chinese counterpart on stage and stressed that Tokyo would remain open to engagement.
“We keep the door open,” he commented.
Japan and South Korea discuss military-logistics agreement
Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea are discussing the possibility of a military-logistics deal.
“This requires understanding and persuasion of the citizens of both countries, and I believe we should still proceed with caution,” South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek told reporters after meeting his counterpart Koizumi at the Shangri-La Dialogue.
Relations between Japan and South Korea have improved dramatically since the 2019 low.
But South Korea has been cautious about the deal given persistent grievances over Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945 and public resistance to the prospect of Japanese troops operating on Korean soil.
South Korea and Japan both host thousands of US troops and all three countries play a vital role in maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru
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