Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning warned on Tuesday at a regular press conference that the international community must stay alert to Japan's accelerating remilitarization trend, which threatens regional peace and stability. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated at a New Year's press conference that Japan will discuss revising its three national security documents by year's end, including boosting defense spending and developing offensive capabilities.
On Tuesday, at a regular press conference of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Spokesperson Mao Ning issued a warning regarding Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's New Year's remarks. Takaichi stated that, to respond to rapid changes in the security environment and with strong determination to protect Japan's independence, peace, and the lives and livelihoods of its people, the country will proceed with discussions to revise its three national security documents by the end of this year.
According to Japanese media reports, major adjustments include increasing defense spending, revising the three non-nuclear principles, lifting restrictions on arms exports, and developing offensive military capabilities. In response, Mao noted that to prevent the revival of Japanese militarism, international legal instruments such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation clearly require Japan to be "completely disarmed" and not to maintain industries that would enable re-armament. Japan's Constitution also imposes strict restrictions on its military forces, the right of belligerency, and the right to war.
Mao added that in recent years, right-wing forces in Japan have expedited military buildup and gradually broken free from postwar norms, including the exclusively defense-oriented principle and international rules, posing a challenge to the postwar international order. These forces have repeatedly used disguises and fabricated false narratives, shifted focus, provoked neighbors, created troubles, and stirred tensions, even pretending to be "threatened" and trapped in a dead end. "In fact, they are using 'survival' and 'defense' as an excuse to tie the Japanese people to the war chariot to serve their hidden agenda. What's the difference between their practice and what the Japanese militarists did in the last century?" Mao said.
The spokesperson emphasized that the painful lessons of history remind us that the Japanese right-wing forces' remilitarization attempt threatens regional and world peace. China and all peace-loving countries and people should never allow these forces to turn back the wheel of history or revive militarism.
Additionally, Atsushi Koketsu, professor emeritus at Yamaguchi University in Japan, criticized Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan as violating international protocol and diplomatic norms, calling it a grave "diplomatic failure." He expressed deep disappointment, stating that the stance contradicts Japan's identity as a peace-loving nation under its pacifist constitution and undermines Sino-Japanese relations.
