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Envoy to Japan says trust is lacking

By Zhang Yunbi | China Daily | Updated: 2017-03-11 06:57

There is "a serious lack of mutual trust in military and defense matters" between Beijing and Tokyo, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua said.

In an interview with China Daily, Cheng, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, mentioned Beijing's concerns over Tokyo's developing security agenda.

Since the summer of 2015, Japan has worked to ease restrictions on its exercising a right of collective self-defense, and it has passed radical new security bills, Cheng said.

"Since the summer of 2015, this development has sabotaged the mutual trust in military and defense matters," Cheng said.

Beijing is also watching the issue of Japan playing a military role overseas, he added.

Japan's Pacifist Constitution renounces the use of force, barring the country's self-defense forces from waging war in the name of a sovereign state.

Envoy to Japan says trust is lacking

China has relayed to Japan its concerns about whether it will further subscribe to peaceful development, Cheng said.

Beijing "resolutely objects to Tokyo creating trouble with China and deliberately fabricating or hyping a so-called China threat to justify its forming security bills", Cheng said.

On Monday, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said that deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system was an option and it would discuss the potential cost and effect of the deployment.

Washington and Seoul's joint plan to deploy THAAD in the Republic of Korea has angered Beijing. The system's X-band radar, which has a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers, would cover a large part of China.

"We are deeply concerned about the discussion in Japan (on whether to deploy THAAD). We oppose it taking such an action," Cheng said.

"The practice of going after its own security interests at the cost of others will end up as a loss to the others and bring no benefit to itself," Cheng added.

China-Japan ties were dealt a serious blow in 2012 when Tokyo decided to "nationalize" China's Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

Cheng observed that the relationship "has not seen a great improvement in the past year".

As this year marks the 45th anniversary of the two countries normalizing their diplomatic relations, Cheng said both "should champion the process of improving their relations and secure stable and positive momentum".

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