Episode Details

China has urged all peace-loving countries to remain highly vigilant and firmly resist Japan's neo-militarist moves, after the latter took its latest step toward revising three key security-related documents as part of a broader push to accelerate its military buildup under the pretext of strengthening deterrence.

Lin Jian, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, made the remarks at a daily news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, a day after Japan convened its first expert panel meeting to advance the revision of the documents, which are expected to be updated by the end of the year.

According to reports, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told the meeting that Japan should draw lessons from the Ukraine crisis and the conflict in the Middle East, adapt to "new forms of warfare", including the use of drones, and prepare for a "long-term conflict".

Lin pointed out that Japan, which has launched wars and invaded other countries in the past, is now playing up so-called tensions. "Is Japan seeking to repeat the mistakes of history, race down the path of remilitarization and once again become a source of trouble in East Asia?"

Japan's recent dangerous and provocative moves in the military and security fields — from its long-standing "exclusively defense-oriented policy" to its declaration to "prepare for a long war" — have dented its self-proclaimed image of being a peaceful country, Lin said.

He noted that Japanese militarism pursued rampant aggression and expansion in the past, committing heinous crimes against China and other Asian neighbors, while also inflicting deep suffering on the Japanese people.

He added that many insightful people have observed that recent remarks made by some Japanese politicians sound more like warmongering, closely resembling the rhetoric of Japanese militarists in the past.

To prevent the resurgence of Japanese militarism, a series of documents with full legal effect under international law — including the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender — required Japan to remain "completely disarmed" and to not maintain industries that could allow its rearmament for war.

The Japanese Constitution also places strict limits on the country's military capabilities, its right of belligerency and its right to wage war.