China has expressed strong concern over Japan’s decision to approve a record-high defense budget for fiscal year 2026, warning that the move signals a dangerous shift away from Japan’s postwar path of peaceful development.
Responding to a question from RT TV, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing has taken note of reports that the Japan government approved a draft budget on December 26 in which defense spending exceeds JPY nine trillion for the first time.
According to Lin Jian, despite criticism from the international community over recent military and security developments, Japan has shown no intention of correcting its course. Instead, the continued increase in defense spending further exposes what China describes as the motives of Japanese right-wing forces to remilitarize the country and revive militarism.
China noted that, given the historical record of wartime atrocities committed by Japanese militarists, Japan’s military and security policies have always been closely scrutinized by Asian neighbors and the wider international community. Since the current Japanese government took office, Beijing says Japan has accelerated its military buildup.
Lin Jian pointed to a series of developments, including remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Taiwan that China says threaten the use of force, comments by a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office advocating Japan’s possession of nuclear weapons, proposals to revise the three national security documents, and discussions about altering the three non-nuclear principles. Taken together, these moves, China argues, show Japan drifting further away from peaceful development and moving in a dangerous direction.
China also criticized Japan’s recent policy shifts, including lifting restrictions on exercising the right to collective self-defense, developing what Japan calls the “capability to strike enemy bases,” strengthening cooperation on extended deterrence, and turning frontier islands into frontline military positions. Beijing says these actions go well beyond Japan’s long-stated “exclusively defense-oriented” policy.
According to Lin Jian, terms such as “self-defense” and “counterstrike” are being used by Japanese right-wing forces to mask attempts to undermine the postwar international order and bypass constraints in Japan’s Constitution, while misleading public opinion at home and abroad. These trends, he said, have put the international community on high alert.
The spokesperson also noted that opposition to military expansion exists within Japan itself. Some Japanese citizens and scholars have warned that increased defense spending will not bring peace or stability, but instead place a heavy burden on the economy and ultimately on ordinary people. Protests and rallies have reportedly been held across Japan opposing the government’s military buildup.
China concluded that it will work together with all peace-loving countries to oppose any actions aimed at reviving militarism or fostering neo-militarism, and to jointly safeguard the outcomes of the victory in World War II.
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