China warns Japan against advancing the building of offensive weapons

A Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman warned Japan on Friday against accelerating the development of offensive weapons, saying such moves were dangerous and deserved vigilance from regional countries.

Chen Xi, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at an online news briefing in response to reports that the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force had recently conducted a live-fire test of a Tomahawk cruise missile.

Chen said Japan's moves to accelerate the development of offensive weapons have become increasingly rampant and highly dangerous.

"Regional countries should remain highly vigilant," he said.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi claimed that, amid what Tokyo described as "the most severe and complex security environment since World War II", long-range missiles would become one of Japan's counterstrike capabilities. The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force has also conducted flight tests involving the mounting of new types of missiles on aircraft.

In response, Chen said that the so-called regional security threats cited by Japan are merely an excuse for it to break through the constraints of its pacifist constitution and the principle of "exclusively defense-oriented policy", while accelerating its push for "remilitarization".

He said facts have shown that the real threat to Japan's security and regional peace and stability comes from domestic moves in Japan to expand its military capabilities and accelerate "remilitarization".

"The nightmare of war must not be repeated, and peace must be safeguarded," Chen said, urging the international community to unite and take action to prevent Japan's "new militarism" from taking shape and causing harm to the world.