BEIJING, Apr. 30 -- “The Japanese government recently published a diplomatic bluebook, playing up the so-called "China military threat", maliciously attacking and discrediting China and grossly interfering in China's internal affairs, which is extremely wrong and irresponsible. China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this and has lodged solemn representations with Japan,” said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for China’ s Ministry of National Defense, on April 30.
Recently, the Japanese government issued a diplomatic bluebook, saying that China's military rise is obvious and its military expenditure has increased substantially. China's military buildup and its activities in the East China Sea and South China Sea have aroused strong concerns among the international community including Japan.The blue book also identified Taiwan as an "extremely important partner."
Senior Colonel Wu Qian responded by saying that China adheres to the path of peaceful development and follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. China's defense spending and military development are always open and transparent. China adheres to the principle of coordinated development of national defense construction and economic growth , and appropriately determines the scale of its defense spending. In the past 30 years, China's annual defense spending has accounted for less than 2% of its GDP, lower than major countries and the world average of 2.6%.
Wu added that the development of China's armed forces is needed not only to safeguard its own sovereignty, security and development interests, but also to safeguard international and regional peace and stability. In keeping with the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China's armed forces provide the international community with such public security products as peacekeeping, escort, humanitarian assistance and anti-pandemic cooperation, thus injecting positive energy into the maintenance of world peace and stability.
Wu stressed that China's position on maritime issues is consistent and clear. The Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands are an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters. The Chinese government and military are resolute in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and are committed to resolving relevant disputes through dialogue and consultation. No country will feel threatened as long as it has no intention of encroaching on China's interests.
The Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair. China will never allow any country to interfere in the Taiwan question in any form. China must and will be reunified. The Japanese side should not stretch its arms too far, let alone have unrealistic illusions, which will be very dangerous, Wu added.
Wu pointed out that since modern times, the Japanese militarists had launched wars of aggression, bringing untold sufferings to China and other countries in the region. Some Japanese politicians, ignoring their own bad deeds, have been wantonly slandering China. It’s worth being highly vigilant about what they are trying to do.
Wu said that China urges the Japanese side to draw lessons from history, stop spreading rumors and slander against China, view China and its military in an objective and rational way, and make constructive efforts to promote the sound and stable development of China-Japan relations.