Japan published its 2026 Defense White Paper, calling China’s military
developments an "unprecedentedly large strategic challenge" and saying Chinese
activity around Taiwan has become more frequent. Chinese Defense Ministry
spokesman Chen Xi said the white paper is full of false narratives, accused
Tokyo of manufacturing a "peripheral security crisis" and hyping a "China
threat" to justify loosening military restraints, and expressed strong
opposition. He accused Japan’s ruling authorities of hiding behind "exclusively
defensive" rhetoric while accelerating revisions to the "three security
documents", raising defense spending, developing long-range offensive
capabilities, weaponizing and operationalizing space, and packaging
military-industrial expansion as economic growth to embed rearmament into
institutions, industry and public opinion. Chen called Japan’s "new militarism"
a serious challenge to the post‑war international order and a real threat to
regional peace and stability, reiterated that the Taiwan issue concerns China’s
sovereignty and is an inviolable red line, and urged Japan to reflect on its
history, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and abandon further
"remilitarization".
