BEIJING, Sept. 28 -- "China urges the Japanese side to draw lessons from history and do more to safeguard regional peace and stability," said Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, on Friday.
It is reported that Japan plans to strengthen the deployment of its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in Kyushu, which is analyzed to mainly target China's increasing "military threats" in Okinawa and the Taiwan Strait and that the Japanese Ministry of Defense recently submitted a record high budget for the 2024 fiscal year, exceeding 7.7 trillion yen.
When being asked to comment on Japan's recent moves, the spokesperson pointed out that Japan has consistently broken the bindings of the pacifist Constitution and the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle. "By hyping up the surrounding threats, it has substantially increased defense expenditure, accelerated the construction of new combat domains, and developed long-range offensive capabilities, going further and further on the path of military expansion," added the spokesperson.
The spokesperson further pointed out that these actions pose serious challenges to regional and global peace and stability as well as the post-war international order, arousing widespread doubts and high vigilance within and outside the country.
In the end, the spokesperson urged the Japanese side to draw lessons from history and do more to safeguard regional peace and stability.