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China-Japan relations
ChinaMilitary

China says Japan’s military pivot will have ‘serious impact’ on regional stability

  • Influential military magazine says Japan’s defence budget shows how its forces could launch long-range strikes
  • Japan’s shift from ‘shield’ to ‘sword’ will trigger regional arms races, ‘deserves high vigilance’, according to Modern Ships

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An influential Chinese military magazine says Japan’s defence budget shows how its forces could launch long-range strikes against enemies. Photo: AFP
Kristin Huang
An influential Chinese military magazine has strongly criticised Japan’s moves to adopt a more offensive posture in a bid to become a major regional military power, as relations between the two nations become increasingly fractious.
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In its latest defence budget, Japan has for the first time shown how its military could carry out long-range strikes against enemy ground troops and surface vessels, according to Modern Ships, a magazine published under the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and run by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

A long-range strike scenario showed how Japanese armed forces could target and destroy rival assets by coordinating weaponry, including aerial satellites, submarines, glide bombs, hypersonic cruise missiles and fighter jets, the magazine said in its April issue.

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It said Japan had “ridden the tide” of US competition with other major countries and taken advantage of this by developing both offensive and defensive forces, which feature stand-off capabilities.

According to the United States Naval Institute, stand-off capability refers to the ability to conduct long-range strikes against invading forces, particularly at Japan’s remote islands, such as the disputed Diaoyus, also claimed by China and known in Japan as the Senkakus.

Modern Ships criticised Japan for exacerbating regional geopolitical tensions, triggering arms races in the Asia-Pacific region and damaging the overall prospects of Sino-Japan relations.

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“[Japan’s] Self-Defence Forces turning to an offensive posture shows that Japan’s right-wing forces are breaking the post-war system and intervening in regional situations. It will have a serious impact on the regional military balance and strategic stability, and deserves high vigilance,” the magazine said.

It also criticised Japan for further complicating the Taiwan issue.
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