International Desk: In response to China’s criticism, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has pledged to further strengthen its military capabilities. While speaking at a security conference in Singapore on Sunday, he indirectly criticized China.
AFP reported from Singapore that Japan, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, is rapidly moving towards a more active defense policy. The country is also gradually moving away from its pacifist stance after World War II. The United States also supports this in this regard.
China has been criticizing this policy change by Japan. Beijing accuses Tokyo of pursuing a risky policy of “new militarism” that could threaten regional stability.
In response, Koizumi said, “There is no truth to this.”
At the annual Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore, he said, “Think about it. There is a country that has a large number of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers.’
He said, ‘Japan does not have such weapons. Yet Japan is being called a new militarist state. Isn’t that strange?’
However, he did not mention China directly in his speech.
China is believed to have hundreds of nuclear warheads. The country has rapidly increased its military power in recent years.
Koizumi said China was increasing its military capabilities without sufficient transparency. The country’s military activities are a ‘matter of serious concern’ for Japan.
He said Tokyo would continuously improve and update its defense capabilities with a high level of transparency. This initiative would also continue in areas such as artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, cybersecurity and space defense.
Koizumi said, ‘Japan has been valued in the past by the region and the international community as a peace-loving nation. False claims will not change this reality, because it is true.’
The Shangri-La Dialogue is one of Asia’s most important defense forums. It brings together security officials and experts from about 45 countries.
Unlike Japan and its ally the United States, China sent a relatively low-level delegation. For the second year in a row, its Defense Minister Dong Jun did not attend the conference.
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