SINGAPORE ¨C Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has delivered a sharp rebuttal of Chinese accusations that Japan is sliding back toward ¡°militarism,¡± using a speech to instead spotlight Beijing and its own military buildup.
Speaking before an audience of defense officials and analysts at the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday, the defense chief directly addressed a label increasingly used by Chinese officials and state-run media to describe Japan¡¯s largest military buildup since World War II, which includes the revision of key strategic documents and a historic increase in defense spending.
¡°Distinguished guests, some of you may have heard the term ¡®new militarism,¡¯ but nothing (could be) further from the truth,¡± he said, turning the tables on Beijing ¡ª without directly naming China ¡ª and underscoring what Tokyo sees as a mismatch between the Asian powerhouse¡¯s own force posture and its political messaging about Japan¡¯s defense evolution.
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