BEIJING, Oct. 29 -- "We urge the Japanese side to face up to and reflect on its history of aggression, make a clean break with militarism, and refrain from putting itself once again on the opposite side of the international community," said Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference on Thursday.

According to reports, Japan's Minister of Defense recently claimed that China has been rapidly expanding its nuclear, missile and other military capabilities. He argued that Japan possesses neither nuclear weapons nor strategic bombers, whereas China has both and yet criticizes Japan. He also stated that Japan will fundamentally restructure its defense research institutes.

When being asked to make comments on the reports, the spokesperson pointed out that it is known to all that Japan, as a defeated country of WWII, must abide by the provisions restricting the development of its military forces stipulated in the international instruments such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation as well as Japan's Constitution. This constitutes the political and legal prerequisites for its return to the international community.

The spokesperson then emphasized that as a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Japan bears an inescapable obligation under international law to not receive, manufacture, acquire or transfer nuclear weapons. This is by no means a political bargaining chip.

"The Japanese official you mentioned deliberately evades Japan's historical crimes, selectively ignores international law, distorts facts and misleads the public," stressed the spokesperson, adding that, "Despite Japan's chicanery, the international community sees through its dangerous schemes of military buildup and even seeking to introduce and acquire nuclear weapons."