Ministry verifying media reports of Japan defense paper

The Defense Ministry said on Wednesday it is verifying a media report that claimed Japan's defense white paper will express wariness over China's maritime activities.

The white paper, to be submitted to the Japanese cabinet for approval early next month, is expected to say that Beijing’s activities in the South China Sea are making its territorial claims a fait accompli, according to Kyodo News which said it had obtained an outline of the paper.

"We have noticed the relevant report, and the relevant situation still needs to be verified and considered," the Ministry of National Defense said in a reply to China Daily on Wednesday.

The outline, according to the report, says China’s activities are intensifying near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. A Chinese naval ship last month sailed in a "contiguous zone" just outside territorial waters around the Diaoyu Islands, according to the Kyodo report.

The outline also said, according to Kyodo, that the number of times Japan has scrambled its Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets against Chinese aircraft approaching its airspace has risen sharply.