Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun

China and other peace-loving countries will resolutely curb Japan's neo-militarism growth under the guise of "national normalization," Chinese FM spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Thursday in response to media inquiry over Japan's Defense Ministry releasing its 2026 Defense White Paper, which calls for further pursuing strike capabilities, and its record-high 8.89-trillion-yen request for the FY2027 defense budget. 

Asked whether Japan's moves challenge the outcomes of WWII, Guo said the establishment of September 3, the victory day in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as a Chinese national memorial day is intended to remember the profound suffering caused by Japanese militarist aggression, remind people to remember history, and resolutely safeguard the outcomes of WWII and the postwar international order.

The spokesperson said that for a long time, Japan's right-wing forces have sought to whitewash its history of aggression and break free from the postwar international arrangements and obligations. It must be stressed that a series of international documents, including the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Instrument of Surrender of Japan legally established Japan's status as a defeated country and clearly stipulated its obligations, including eliminating militarism, dismantling military industries, destroying its war-making capabilities and prohibiting rearmament. These postwar international arrangements uphold historical truth and international justice, build an institutional safeguard against the resurgence of militarism, and represent the consolidation of the gains of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.

"We warn Japan's right-wing forces that the right path for Japan is to honor its international obligations, thoroughly eliminate the remnants of militarism and pursue peaceful development," Guo added.