BEIJING, Aug 5 (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday said it had complained to Japan about Tokyo’s newly released defence white paper, accusing it of playing up a Chinese threat and making “unwarranted comments” about Taiwan.
The annual Japanese report, released on Tuesday, claims that China has intensified its military activities around Taiwan, the island Beijing claims as its own territory despite Taipei’s rejection. The paper states that the “overall military balance between China and Taiwan is rapidly tilting in China’s favour.”
In a response to Reuters regarding the white paper, China’s foreign ministry said Tokyo has no right to comment on the Taiwan issue as it is purely China’s internal affair.
“How to resolve the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people themselves and brooks no interference from the Japanese side,” the ministry said, adding that China’s relevant military activities are legitimate and reasonable.
Ties between Japan and China sank to their worst level in years after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that Japan could deploy its Self-Defence Forces if any Chinese attack on Taiwan also threatened Japan’s survival, with Beijing demanding that she retract what it called an “egregious” remark.
Japan’s government is portraying its accelerating military buildup not only as a way to protect the country but as a route to greater prosperity, arguing in the white paper that arms production can support economic growth.
China has accused Japan of accelerating its remilitarization push instead of reflecting on its history of aggression.
“We urge Japan to stop seeking excuses for military expansion, and refrain from going further down the wrong path,” the Chinese foreign ministry said, urging the international community to curb Tokyo’s buildup.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
