China dismay at Japanese weapons plans

China today expressed concern at new Japanese defence guidelines easing a ban on weapons exports and criticised them for describing Beijing as a threat.

“We are deeply concerned with the great changes of Japan’s military defence strategy and its possible impact,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhang Qiyue was quoted as saying by state media.

China regards Japan as its major rival for status as East Asia’s dominant military power and reacts negatively to signs that Tokyo might shed self-imposed post-war limits on military activity.

The guidelines issued yesterday ease Japan’s decades-old ban on arms exports in order to facilitate a joint missile security program with Washington. But they stress that Tokyo will stick to defence, avoiding offensive military activity abroad.

The report cites threats posed by North Korean missiles and China’s military build-up. Zhang expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with that description.

“This is totally groundless and extremely irresponsible,” the official Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying.

Zhang appealed to Japan to “take its Asian neighbours’ concern into full consideration”, the reports said.

She cited “historical reasons” – a reference to Japan’s brutal conquest of China and other Asian nations before and during World War II.

Asian nations that suffered millions of deaths at the hands of Japan are still deeply uneasy about its military ambitions. But China’s own arms build-up in recent years also has sparked regional anxieties.

Chronic tensions between Beijing and Tokyo spiked last month when a Chinese submarine intruded into Japanese waters. Japanese officials say Beijing later apologised.