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 (
Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday condemned a European Parliament resolution on human rights calling for the release of his critics as “blatant interference.” The EU Parliament resolution, voted by an overwhelming majority the day before, called for the release of lawyer Sonia Dahmani, a popular critic of Saied, who was freed from prison on Thursday, but remained under judicial supervision. “The European Parliament [resolution] is a blatant interference in our affairs,” Saied said. “They can learn lessons from us on rights and freedoms.” Saied’s condemnation also came two days after he summoned the EU’s ambassador for “failing to respect diplomatic rules.” He also
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
Sri Lanka made an appeal for international assistance yesterday as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing. The extreme weather system has destroyed nearly 15,000 homes, sending almost 44,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said. DMC Director-General Sampath Kotuwegoda said relief operations had been strengthened with the deployment of thousands of troops from the country’s army, navy and air force. “We have 123 confirmed dead and another 130 missing,” Kotuwegoda told reporters in Colombo. Cyclone Ditwah was moving away from the island yesterday and
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
RSS