By Hua Dan and Zhang Li
With moves such as holding the large-scale joint exercises Resolute Dragon 2026 and "Valiant Shield 2026," planning the reorganization of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), and raising the target of its defense spending-to-GDP ratio to over 3%, Japan is accelerating toward remilitarization. Various signs indicate that Japan's remilitarization plot is gaining momentum and has become a source of trouble, posing an increasingly serious and realistic threat to regional and global peace and stability.
Adjusting laws and policies to create pretexts for military expansion
Multiple Japanese media outlets have disclosed the summary of the 2026 version of the Japan's defense white paper. The new white paper repeats old clichés, aggressively hyping up peripheral threats, advocating that the international community has entered a new era of crisis, stating that the security environment in the Indo-Pacific region is becoming increasingly severe, and making an issue of the so-called "China threat." It is obvious that its real purpose is to incite anxiety, coerce public opinion, and weave pretexts for promoting legislation and policy adjustments to break through the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle.
On June 9, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party passed a draft amendment to the "Three Security Documents," which is expected to be released in the form of a cabinet decision within the year after being submitted to the government. The key issue of the draft is to raise the defense spending-to-GDP ratio to over 3% to achieve the goal of completing the transformation of defense power within five years. Once implemented, Japan's defense budget for the next fiscal year will exceed 20 trillion yen, far surpassing many traditional European military powers, and the policy framework under the pacifist Constitution will be thoroughly reduced to a dead letter.
Accelerating military deployment to enhance offensive deterrence
Japan's remilitarization plot is being implemented in the fields of force construction and combat application from multiple dimensions. Recently, Japan has stepped up its layout in island chain deployment, space operations, and drone attack and defense, burying major hidden dangers for regional peace and stability.
On June 8, the Japan Self-Defense Forces began transporting Type 12 surface-to-ship missile launchers and reconnaissance drones to Minamitorishima, preparing for the construction of a local missile shooting range and future live-fire training. As Japan's easternmost outlying island, Minamitorishima is located at the fulcrum of the Second Island Chain and plays an important role in wide-area early warning and surveillance. This move is intended to strengthen the island's status as a strategic outpost. Japan also continues to advance the fortification of Iwo Jima, including upgrading existing infrastructure at the base, adding surveillance radars and air defense missile positions, and accelerating the creation of a "core fortress" in the Second Island Chain, attempting to form an offensive deterrence system by extending its military deployment outward.
Co-opting and binding allies to provoke geopolitical confrontation
On one hand, Japan constantly breaks through the bottom line of the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle; on the other hand, it is stepping up the expansion of its defense cooperation network with so-called "like-minded countries" to build a confrontational "small circle," opening new channels for its own military expansion.
Japan and the US held two large-scale joint exercises in late June. The location of the "Resolute Dragon 2026" exercise covers many areas in Kyushu, Yonaguni, Miyakojima, and other parts of southwestern Japan, focusing on cross-regional coordination and joint island attack and defense operations. "Valiant Shield 2026" focuses on training subjects such as ocean-going anti-submarine warfare, maritime blockade, and joint sea control in the Western Pacific. The two exercises overlap significantly in time and are interconnected in region, representing a concentrated move by Japan and the US to improve regional intervention capabilities and strengthen joint deterrence. Japan also took the opportunity to voluntarily open the Kanoya Air Base for the US to deploy the Typhon medium-range missile system, exposing its malicious intentions.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue not long ago, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi publicly touted the so-called new version of the "free and open Indo-Pacific" concept, stating that Japan would continue to strengthen its defense capabilities and assume a "new role" in regional defense equipment and technology cooperation. During the event, Japan actively marketed weapons and equipment such as the Abukuma-class frigates to the Philippines and promoted Mogami-class frigates to Australia and New Zealand. Japan intends to dilute the sensitivity of weapon exports in the name of "cooperation," test the waters for building a weapon export system, stimulate the development of its domestic military industry, and at the same time deepen its interest-binding with relevant countries, taking the opportunity to achieve military expansion overseas.
These dangerous acts by Japan disregard the just calls of the international community and insightful people within Japan to safeguard peace and oppose war, and seriously deviate from its historical identity as a defeated nation in World War II. We advise the Japanese side to face history squarely, speak and act cautiously, immediately stop all wrongdoings that undermine regional peace and stability, and truly return to the right track of peaceful development. Moving against the tide of history and attempting to revive militarism will inevitably lead to disastrous consequences.
(The authors are from the Chinese PLA Army Engineering University)