欧

On the afternoon of August 27, 2026, China’s Ministry of National Defense held its monthly press briefing in Beijing, where spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang issued a sharp warning over a series of recent Japanese military moves. Zhang said Japan is a defeated nation of World War II, and that the Potsdam Proclamation and Japan’s "peace constitution" explicitly prohibit Japan from possessing offensive weapons. In recent years, however, Japan has accelerated "remilitarization" and openly expanded its armaments, with a string of dangerous developments closely resembling the pre-WWII preparations and launch of Japan’s war of aggression. He stressed that the international community should clearly recognize the dangerous intentions of Japan’s right-wing forces, resolutely contain the reckless moves of Japan’s "neo-militarism," and firmly safeguard regional peace and stability.

At the briefing, reporters asked about Japan’s Defense Ministry plan for a large-scale reorganization in fiscal year 2027 that would create three new bureaus, Japan’s plan to equip unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) with long-range missiles, and an agreement between Japan and Australia allowing missile test-launches on Australian soil. According to Japanese media reports, the Defense Ministry, under the direction of Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, plans to establish three new bureaus — tentatively named the "Defense Infrastructure Bureau," the "International Policy Bureau," and the "Facilities Policy Bureau" — responsible respectively for Self-Defense Forces logistics and supply, external military cooperation, and management of facilities at U.S. military bases in Japan; the expansion would add these bureaus without abolishing any existing ones, a move Japanese media described as "extremely rare." Separately, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles signed a new agreement in Canberra on August 18 allowing Japan’s Self-Defense Forces to test-launch hypersonic and other long-range strike missiles at Australian firing ranges over the next decade; the two sides also announced joint development of a directed-energy laser countermeasure system code-named "Boobook." These moves are seen as the latest evidence of Japan continuing to break through its "exclusively defense-oriented" principle and expand its arsenal of offensive weapons.

Addressing these developments, Zhang told the briefing bluntly that if a country that once zealously waged wars of aggression abroad and has never genuinely reflected on its historical war guilt is allowed to rearm into a so-called "war-capable nation," the tragedy of history risks repeating itself. He said that as a country that once pursued militarism and external aggression and expansion, Japan has never sincerely reflected on its historical crimes, and in recent years has used the pretext of responding to "external threats" to substantially raise its defense budget, vigorously develop offensive capabilities, and aggressively expand its military industry. Zhang called on the international community to resolutely contain the dangerous signs of Japan’s "neo-militarism" and jointly safeguard the fruits of victory in World War II and the postwar international order.

This was already the second time within a month that China’s Ministry of National Defense had issued a warning over Japan’s military policy. At the routine briefing on August 14, spokesperson Chen Xi commented on the Defense Ministry’s forthcoming fiscal year 2027 defense budget request, which totals roughly 8.9 trillion yen (about $55.9 billion) — another record high. Chen said at the time that Japan has not genuinely learned the lessons of history, has long tolerated domestic right-wing forces distorting and denying its crimes of aggression, and has gone to great lengths to break through the constraints of the "peace constitution" and the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle. "Japan’s ‘neo-militarism’ has laid bare its true ambition, and its dangers must be guarded against," Chen said.

Between the two briefings, on August 15 — the 81st anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent a ritual "masakaki" offering fee to Yasukuni Shrine in a private capacity, while Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visited the shrine in person. Responding to this on the same day, Defense Ministry spokesperson Jiang Bin sharply criticized the acts, saying Yasukuni Shrine is a spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism’s wars of aggression, enshrining war criminals whose hands are stained with the blood of the peoples of the Asia-Pacific region. Jiang said that while Japanese politicians "proclaim with their mouths a pursuit of peace, they bow in worship before the chief culprits of war" — a hypocrisy that fully exposes the severely distorted view of history held by Japan’s right-wing forces and their dangerous intent to raise the banner and summon the spirit of militarism. He also noted that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, and that if Japan obstinately pursues "neo-militarism," it will surely once again face a trial of justice and a reckoning of history.

China’s heightened vigilance toward Japan’s military moves is rooted in the heavy weight of modern history. In the first half of the 20th century, Japanese militarism launched a full-scale war of aggression against China and the Pacific War, inflicting profound suffering on the peoples of China and the wider Asia-Pacific region. After World War II, the Potsdam Proclamation explicitly demanded the eradication of Japanese militarism, and Japan subsequently enshrined the principle of "renunciation of war" in Article 9 of its 1947 constitution, long adhering to an "exclusively defense-oriented" policy limited to self-defense and prohibiting the possession of weapons usable for attacking other countries — a principle that formed the political foundation for the normalization of Japan’s postwar relations with its Asian neighbors. Over the past decade or more, however, successive Japanese governments have repeatedly cited a "deteriorating security environment" involving China, North Korea and others to lift the ban on collective self-defense, decide to acquire "counterstrike capability" against enemy bases, and raise the defense budget target to 2 percent of GDP — moves widely seen as steadily hollowing out the substance of the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle.

At the same time, Japan’s 2026 Defense White Paper has pointed to China, portraying what it calls China’s expanding military presence in the Pacific as justification for its own military buildup, while disputes between China and Japan over the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and other issues have persisted in recent years. Japan has also continued to deepen security cooperation with the United States, Australia and others; besides the Japan-Australia hypersonic missile test agreement mentioned above, Japan has in recent years repeatedly used firing ranges in the United States, Australia and other countries to test long-range strike weapons, working around the constraints of its own limited territory, which makes it difficult to test long-range weapons close to home. Analysts say Japan is using multilateral security networks to break through domestic legal and political constraints and accelerate the buildup of military capabilities aimed at so-called "contingencies in Japan’s surrounding areas," a trend other countries in the region are watching closely amid concern that it could further destabilize the Asia-Pacific security landscape.

In fact, this was not the first time this year that China’s Ministry of National Defense has warned about Japan’s "neo-militarism." China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in April that it is an indisputable fact that Japan’s "neo-militarism" has become a real threat, and that China and other regional countries must remain highly vigilant, jointly defend the fruits of victory in World War II, and never allow Japanese militarism to resurface. Analysts note that a series of adjustments Japan has made in recent years to its defense budget, command structure and weapons systems have steadily hollowed out the substance of its "exclusively defense-oriented" policy, while its external military cooperation has expanded beyond the traditional Japan-U.S. alliance to a broader network of "like-minded" countries including Australia and the Philippines.

China’s Ministry of National Defense has repeatedly stressed that squarely facing and deeply reflecting on the history of aggression, and genuinely learning its lessons, form an unshakable political foundation for Japan’s relations with its Asian neighbors. China has called on countries in the region to remain vigilant together to prevent the resurgence of Japanese militarism and to jointly safeguard hard-won regional peace and stability along with the postwar international order. As of now, the Japanese government has not issued a formal response to the Chinese Defense Ministry’s August 27 remarks. The dispute between China and Japan over the direction of Japan’s defense policy and over historical perceptions is expected to remain a prominent point of friction in bilateral relations in the near term.