At the Asian powers’ first official security discussions in four years on Wednesday, Beijing expressed concern about Japan’s military build-up. Tokyo criticized Beijing for its military links to Russia and its alleged deployment of surveillance balloons.
The discussions, intended to reduce tensions between the second-and third-largest economies in the world, occurred as Tokyo frets that Beijing may use force to annex Taiwan in the aftermath of Russia’s war on Ukraine, entangling Japan in a confrontation that might disrupt commerce globally.
Japan said in December that it would increase its defense expenditure over the next five years to 2% of GDP, or $320 billion, to dissuade China from using force. China spends more on its armed forces than Japan, with a 7.1% rise last year.
Tokyo has plans to buy longer-range missiles that may reach China’s mainland and stockpile additional weapons it would need to wage war with the sizable US force it is hosting.
At the beginning of their meeting in Tokyo with the Japanese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shigeo Yamada, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong stated, “The international security situation has undergone vast changes, and we are seeing the return of unilateralism, protectionism, and a Cold War mentality.”
At the meeting, Sun said they had also spoken about “unblocking” industry supply lines and Japan’s wastewater discharge from the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactor into the Pacific. He gave no further information.
China is Japan’s greatest trade partner, with over a quarter of its imports and a fifth of its exports. In addition, it serves as a significant industrial hub for Japanese businesses.
While there are numerous opportunities for Japan-China relations, Yamada told Sun that there are also many problems and worries.
He cited their territorial dispute over the uninhabited Senkaku and Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, Beijing’s most recent military exercises with Moscow, and the alleged Chinese spy balloons sighted above Japan at least three times since 2019.
Japan announced last week that it intended to clarify military engagement regulations to let its jet fighters take down uncrewed aircraft that violate its airspace in response to the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon by the United States.
The necessity of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was also emphasized, according to a statement released by Japan’s foreign ministry following the meeting.
According to the statement, the two nations also decided to improve contact between their top security officials and strive to create a direct communication hotline “around spring.”
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