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China criticises Japan's "irresponsible" defence policy
Beijing has reacted angrily to the release on Friday of Japan's updated defence policy, which described China's military build-up as a global concern.
Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force destroyer Kurama leads the fleet at Sagami Bay off Yokohama Photo: REUTERS
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo 1:51PM GMT 17 Dec 2010
Criticising Tokyo's comments as "irresponsible", Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry spokesman, said: "No country has the right to appoint themselves the representative of the international community."
The new National Defence Policy Guidelines unveiled in Tokyo are a fairly dramatic realignment of Japan's military posture, described as a shift to a "dynamic defence capability."
The emphasis turns firmly away from defending areas to the north of the Japanese archipelago, a hangover from the Cold War but also out of concern for the unpredictable and nuclear-armed regime in North Korea, to a more flexible and fluid ability to respond to incursions into Japanese territory in the far south, particularly around remote Okinawan Islands.
It was in this theatre that a Chinese fishing boat clashed with a Japanese Coast Guard vessel in early September, triggering the worst diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Tokyo for a decade.
Indicative of the change in the way of thinking among Japan's military leaders is the decision to scrap 200 of its main battle tanks and a similar number of artillery pieces and to instead increase its naval and aerial abilities.
The government had previously announced plans to add a further six submarines to its 16-strong fleet, which are mainly charged with monitoring Chinese warships in waters between the two nations.
More funds will be provided to update Japan's fighter capabilities, as well as the threat posed by North Korean missiles and terrorism. "The guidelines to me look as if they are designed to identify and target a threat more promptly and more appropriately than in the past," said Go Ito, a professor of international relations at Tokyo's Meiji University.
"To my mind, they look quite reasonable in the circumstances." The report is more stern in its assessment of the danger that Japan faces from China, describing Beijing's naval activities around Okinawa as "a matter of concern for the region and the international community." In the previous study, released one year ago, it stated that there was a "need to remain attentive" to China's actions.
"These positions merely reflect reality," said Professor Ito. "I am sure that the Chinese political leaders would have known broadly what the report would contain and although they may say they are angry in public, it will probably be fairly muted.
"And of course the Chinese knew that the report was to be issued today, so I think there is little likelihood that China's announcement this week that it is constructing an aircraft carrier is a coincidence," he said. "These decisions are quite reasonable and Japan is simply reacting to what China has done in recent years," he added.
