Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning

When asked to comment on Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara's claims that Japan's "exclusively defense-oriented policy" remains unchanged, China's rhetoric regarding Japan's neo-militarism is groundless, and Japan will stay on the path as a post-war peaceful nation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Tuesday that "what Japan does matters far more than what it says." 

Mao said that in recent years, the Japanese government has steadily increased military spending, relaxed controls on the export of lethal weapons, repeatedly taken part in military drills, pressed ahead with the deployment of long-range missiles, developed the so-called "counterattack capability" for offensive operations, stockpiled large quantities of sensitive nuclear materials, pushed for revisions to its pacifist constitution, and advocated for building a nation "capable of fighting". 

Mao noted that Japan's moves have repeatedly broken the constraints of international law and domestic legislation, questioning whether this is what Japan means by upholding the "exclusively defense-oriented policy." Such discrepancies between words and deeds will never allay the international community's concerns over Japan's remilitarization, Mao added.

Japanese militarism once inflicted untold disasters on the world and the Japanese people, and its neo-militarism is also a road to nowhere, the spokesperson said. "We urge the Japanese side to draw profound lessons from history, honor its commitment to peace, and win the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community through concrete actions," Mao noted.


Global Times