China rejects Japan's defense white paper claims

The accusations against China in Japan's newly released annual defense white paper are fabricated to justify its own military expansion, a Chinese defense ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

Jiang Bin, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry made the remarks in response to the Defense of Japan 2025 white paper, which continues to label China as an "unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge".

The report also falsely accuses China of "intensifying unilateral changes to the status quo by force" and made negative comments regarding the Taiwan question.

Jiang said that Japan is exaggerating the "China threat" and wants to only interfere in China's internal affairs, stressing that the Chinese side expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to it and has lodged stern representations to the Japanese side.

"Japanese militarism once brought severe disasters to China and its Asian neighbors," he emphasized, criticizing Japan for not reflecting seriously but instead showing a dangerous trend of military expansion and significantly increasing its defense budget.

Japan is continually loosening restrictions on arms exports, forming small military circles for bloc confrontation, and occasionally suggesting modifications to its Three Non-Nuclear Principles, he said.

These actions severely violate Japan's Constitution and the principle of exclusive defense, seriously undermine the post-war international order, and pose significant challenges to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, the spokesman said, stressing that Japan's behavior has raised high vigilance and deep concern among Asian neighbors and the international community.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's recovery from Japanese occupation, Jiang said.

Jiang underlined that Taiwan's return to China in 1945 was an important part of the outcomes of the victory in World War II and the post-war international order.

"We urge Japan to deeply learn from historical lessons and stop smearing and accusing China," he said, urging Japan to earnestly adhere to the four China-Japan political documents and its commitments to the Taiwan question, and to take concrete actions to promote the healthy and stable development of China-Japan relations.