BEIJING, April 24 -- "We firmly oppose the Japanese side playing up the so-called "China military threat", hyping up tensions in the region, and deliberately provoking confrontation," said Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, when commenting on Japan's newly released Diplomatic Bluebook at a press conference on Thursday.
It's reported that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Diplomatic Bluebook 2025, which labeled China as an "unprecedented strategic security challenge" and hyped up situations in the East China Sea and the South China Sea as well as military cooperation between China and Russia. In addition, the Japanese defense minister said that Japan will invest nearly 2 trillion yen in 2 Aegis system equipped vessels. Each of them has a displacement of over 10,000 tons and firepower far beyond the level required for defense. The Japanese side constantly breaches its "exclusively defense-oriented policy" and accelerates the building of offensive capabilities.
The spokesperson reiterated that China follows a path of peaceful development and pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. China's military development is aimed at safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and development interests. China has no intention to challenge or threaten any country. The characteristics of the exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese and Russian militaries are non-alignment, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party.
The spokesperson noted that in recent years, Japan has drastically increased defense budget time and again, sought breakthroughs in military buildup, which have aroused serious concerns among its Asian neighbors and the international community.
"We urge the Japanese side to recalibrate its strategic perception of China, stop provoking bloc confrontation, be prudent with its words and actions in the military and security fields, and contribute more to regional peace and stability," stressed the spokesperson in the end.
