BEIJING, June 25 -- "It is Japan that truly owes the world a clear explanation: as neo-militarism grows into a greater threat, where is Japan heading for?" asked Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense(MND), at a press conference on Thursday.

According to media reports, the Japanese defense minister once again questioned the transparency of China's defense budget and claimed that Japan would invest in new operational capabilities including drones and AI in a transparent manner to adapt to the evolving nature of conflicts.

"China's defense expenditure is open and transparent. As required by the Chinese laws, we release information on China's total defense budget as well as its scale, composition and usage every year. China is an active participant in the UN military expenditure transparency mechanism and has submitted annual military expenditure reports of the previous fiscal year to the UN since 2008. China's defense expenditure remains at a reasonable, moderate and restrained level, which accounts for less than 1.5% of our GDP for a long time," said the spokesperson.

"In contrast, Japan, as a defeated nation in World War II, has rapidly increased its defense budget for 14 consecutive years. Its defense spending has drastically increased to 2% of its GDP, and the government plans to further raise this ratio to 3.5%. Japan's per capita defense spending is more than three times that of China," the spokesperson emphasized.

Quoting a Chinese old saying, "the innocent are innocent and the guilty are guilty", the spokesperson stressed that the Japanese side has long smeared China's defense expenditure by peddling conspiracy theory in a bid to divert attention, mislead public opinion, and cover up its ambition and actions in remilitarization.