China urges Japan to act prudently on military issues

BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The international community needs to stay on high alert against Japan's greatly increasing defense expenditure in recent years, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Thursday, urging the Japanese side to act prudently on military and security issues.

Wang made the remarks at a regular news briefing when asked to comment on reports that Japan's Defense Ministry has signed contracts worth 2.84 billion U.S. dollars with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop a new missile force to obtain the capability of striking targets more than 1,000 km from Japan, and that Japan also plans to deploy hypersonic weapons by 2026, and develop submarine-launched hypersonic missiles with a range of 3,000 km by the early 2030s.

Wang said this situation has come to China's serious attention, and China will closely follow the developments.

Wang noted Japan has constantly hyped up the "China threat" narrative, repeatedly breached its commitments under the pacifist constitution and exclusively defense-oriented policy, greatly increased defense expenditure, developed offensive weapons, and sought "strike capabilities against the enemy."

Japan is moving further down the path of military expansion, which has sent out a dangerous message to countries in the region and the wider world that Japan is attempting to subvert the post-war international order, he said, adding the international community needs to stay on high alert against this.

China strongly urges the Japanese government to deeply reflect on the history of its aggression, earnestly respect the security concerns of its Asian neighbors, remain true to its exclusively defense-oriented policy, keep to the path of peaceful development, and act prudently on military and security issues, he added.