A senior Japanese lawmaker said Japan could become just another Chinese province in the future given Beijing's increasing military capabilities, local media reported yesterday.
The comments by Shoichi Nakagawa, policy chief of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), could hurt the recently improving ties between the Asian neighbors.
"If something goes wrong in Taiwan in the next 15 years, we [Japan] might also become just another Chinese province within 20 years or so," Kyodo news agency quoted Nakagawa as saying in a speech on Monday.
"If Taiwan is placed under its complete influence, Japan could be next. That's how much China is seeking hegemony," Nakagawa later told reporters, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Abe, whose support ratings have been on a steady decline partly due to gaffes by his ministers, brushed off concerns about Nakagawa's comments, saying it was meaningless to debate part of a speech.
"In the past, it was often said that Japan might become the 51st state of the United States," he said.
Nakagawa, known for his tough stance toward Beijing, also said in the speech that China's satellite-killing missile test last month was meant to keep in check Japan's planned launch of a spy satellite, which went ahead on Saturday.
China heatedly rejected Nakagawa's comments, calling instead for Japan to explain its own moves to beef up its armed forces.
"Japan is much smaller than China but still has a huge military expenditure. Meanwhile it makes claims of a Chinese threat," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang (
"So we should question what is the real purpose and motivation behind that. Don't you feel that is strange?" Qin said.
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