China yesterday launched a series of blistering attacks on key rival Japan after a defense paper approved by Tokyo criticized Beijing’s military buildup and growing territorial assertiveness.
China’s foreign ministry branded the paper “irresponsible,” insisting Beijing’s drive to modernize its forces was entirely defensive, and expressed its “strong dissatisfaction.”
State news agency Xinhua went further, accusing Japan of “China bashing” and warning the document could jeopardize relations between the two countries, while the defense ministry also issued a statement condemning the paper.
Japan’s annual defense report, released this week, voiced concern over China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean and what it called the “opaqueness” of Beijing’s military budget.
“The Japanese 2011 defense white paper made irresponsible comments on China’s national defense construction. China expresses its strong dissatisfaction,” foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) said.
OPPORTUNITIES
“China’s development is offering significant opportunities to all countries — including Japan — and China has not been, and never will be a threat to any other country,” Ma said.
China broke off all high-level contact with Tokyo in September last year after Japan detained a Chinese fishing boat captain whose vessel collided with Japanese coast guard patrol ships in waters claimed by both sides.
The row between Asia’s two biggest economies was their worst in years and undermined painstaking recent efforts to improve relations marked by decades of mistrust stemming from Japan’s 1930s invasion of China.
The Chinese skipper was released after more than two weeks and the two countries, which have deep trade ties, have been trying to mend fences.
Japan’s defense report used a Japanese word that can be translated as “overbearing” or as “assertive” to describe China’s stance over its “conflicting interests with neighboring countries, including Japan.”
‘OPAQUENESS’
The paper also said China’s defense spending was not transparent, saying the budget publicly announced by China “is widely seen as only part of what Beijing actually spends for military purposes.”
“Opaqueness in its defense policies and military movements are concerns for the region, including Japan, and for the international community, and we need to carefully analyze them,” it said.
Xinhua called the claims “groundless” and said the report “dutifully carries out its China-bashing tradition, nitpicking at China’s defense expenditure growth and military modernization in the manner of a back seat driver.”
Earlier this year, China announced military spending would rise 12.7 percent to 601.1 billion yuan (US$91.7 billion) this year after funding slowed last year.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique