Japan urged Beijing yesterday to take steps towards nuclear disarmament, to strictly control exports of missile technologies and to disclose military data to allay its neighbors' fears.
Japan's Foreign Ministry issued the diplomatic requests at a time when ties between the two Asian powers have been strained by a range of simmering disputes, many stemming from Japan's invasion and occupation of parts of China from 1931 to 1945.
In a report on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, the ministry said information on China's military remained "opaque."
"We believe that it is important for China to improve transparency regarding its military in order to clear fears held by its neighboring countries," the report said.
China, whose 2.3-million-strong People's Liberation Army is the world's largest standing military, has been steadily moving to modernize its nuclear arms and missile capabilities as well as its naval and air forces, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.
China said on Saturday that its official defense budget would rise to 283.8 billion yuan (US$35 billion) this year, up 14.7 percent from last year. The country's military spending has risen by double-digit percentages for the last few years.
US and Japanese defense officials and many defense analysts have said that Beijing in fact spends much more on military equipment and forces than the official budget shows.
As a result, Japan has grown increasingly outspoken and nervous about China's military buildup and has repeatedly called on Beijing to disclose information on its military.
In December, Japanese For-eign Minister Taro Aso caused a diplomatic flap when he said China's military buildup was a threat given its lack of transparency, triggering an angry retort from Beijing and straining already chilly bilateral ties.
nuclear risks
Yesterday's report said that China, which has intercontinental ballistic missiles that put the west coast of the US within range, should follow the other four nuclear powers -- the US, Russia, Britain and France -- and declare a moratorium on production of fissionable material.
"Although China has shown its intention to push ahead with nuclear disarmament, no progress is believed to have been made in specific nuclear arms reduction steps in the past 20 years," it said.
China has taken legal steps to curb exports of sensitive materials and technologies since 2002, but it should do more to completely halt shipments abroad of materials that could be used to produce weapons of mass destruction, it said.
"We hope China will enforce strict export controls," the report said.
The US said in December that it had imposed sanctions on six Chinese state-run firms for selling missiles or chemical weapons supplies to Iran.
territorial dispute
Meanwhile, China and Japan wrapped up two-day negotiations on disputed gas deposits in the East China Sea and agreed to meet again in an ongoing effort to resolve the territorial disagreement, the Chinese government said.
"The two sides exchanged in-depth views ... and agreed to hold a next round of consultation as soon as possible," the official Xinhua News Agency said.
It did not say when or where the talks would take place.
Japanese officials were hoping for a response from China to Tokyo's proposal for joint development of the deposits. The Xinhua report did not give details on what China's position was but said discussions were "pragmatic and constructive."
Kenichiro Sasae, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asia-Oceania Bureau, and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Zhengyao (
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS