China is expected to be described as a military threat in a Japanese defense review which could form the basis of Tokyo's long-term defense plan, reports said yesterday.
A private advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to mention, in a report to be completed by the end of this month, the threat stemming from China's military build-up and fears of a military clash with Taiwan, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said.
Wary of raising the hackles of its powerful neighbor, up to now Japan has not so far explicitly referred to nuclear-armed China as a military threat in any published official document.
Pointing to a steady rise in China's defense budgets, the advisory panel is considering expressing "caution" about chances of a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the paper said.
But China's lavishly funded military build-up has been seen as one of the reasons for a reduction in Tokyo's official development aid to Beijing in recent years.
The report from the advisory panel is expected to be reflected in a new long-term defense plan to be completed by the government by the end of this year, the leading business daily said.
The unprecedentedly frank description risks heightening further the diplomatic tension between Beijing and Tokyo.
Beijing's plan to develop natural gas near the demarcation line of Japan's exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea has also added to the bilateral strain.
The current defense plan avoids mentioning China specifically as a military threat although it refers to "large-scale military powers," including those with nuclear capability, in the region surrounding Japan.
"Many countries are inclined to expand and modernize military capabilities on the strength of economic development and other factors," it says, citing the Russian far east and the Korean Peninsula.
The panel warned Japan should cope with "each and every instance" of China's military expansion, the report added.
The panel's report is expected to highlight increases in China's military spending and strategy statements, which point to the country's expansionist policy, the daily said.
Japan's financial aid to China has been under fire from some members of the Liberal Democratic Party in view of Beijing's huge spending on its military buildup, manned spacecraft program and its own aid to neighboring countries.
Japan's subtle shift from its cautious approach to China reflects the chill in their bilateral relations on one hand and the strengthening of Tokyo's alliance with Washington on the other, the daily said.
The panel's report is expected to underline the maintenance of a "deterrence based on the Japan-US alliance," the daily said.
China's rising nationalist sentiment, coupled with its authoritarian political system and increasingly powerful military, is viewed as a source of grave concern by many security analysts in Japan, which is one of Asia's oldest democracies.
Meanwhile, Chinese observers point to Japan's dismal humanitarian record during World War II as a reason for keeping Japan's power in check.
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS