China's military modernization, including apparent plans for a deep-water navy, needs to be monitored closely to determine whether it exceeds requirements for self-defense, a Japanese defense report said yesterday.
The annual defense white paper, which comes at a time of strained Sino-Japanese ties, echoes a US Defense Department report in July that said China's fast-modernizing military could pose a regional threat.
Defense Minister Yoshinori Ohno said, however, that Japan did not see China as a military threat.
"But there are issues that require attention ... and we urge China to improve its transparency" on issues such as military spending, Kyodo news agency quoted him as saying.
The report, compiled by the defense ministry, said the Japanese public had become "exceedingly concerned" about the activities of Chinese vessels.
The report noted the intrusion of a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine into waters off Japan's Okinawa islands in November as an example of increasing Chinese naval activity close to Japan.
"Including the incident ... involving the Chinese nuclear-powered submarine, Chinese naval vessels have been navigating in waters near Japan in recent years," it said.
China said the submarine entered Japanese waters by mistake.
Japan has been urging China to explain the reason for the increase in marine activity in hopes that greater transparency will deepen trust, the white paper said.
Japan is also concerned about Chinese gas exploration in the East China Sea near what Japan considers to be its exclusive economic zone, the report said.
Japan must be on guard against such activities, partly since China is said to be striving to expand its navy's reach, it said.
"Regarding the pick-up in China's maritime activity, the trends need to be watched since ... it has also been pointed out that the Chinese navy is aiming in the future to become a so-called `blue-water navy,'" the white paper said.
The report reiterated the need to monitor China's efforts to modernize its nuclear and missile forces.
"It is necessary to keep paying attention to these modernization trends to carefully evaluate whether the objective of the modernization of the military exceeds the scope needed for China's defense," the white paper said.
The report also stressed Japan's concern about China's passage in March of an "Anti-Secession" Law authorizing the use of "non-peaceful means" to unify with Taiwan.
Beijing considers Taiwan, split politically from the mainland since 1949, to be a part of China.
"Our country, the United States and the European Union expressed concerns over the law, in view of its negative effects on the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait and on the relationship between China and Taiwan, which had been improving," the white paper said.
The Taiwan issue is one of many sore points in the Japan-China relationship, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to a war shrine in Tokyo.
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