Japan's defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi rejected China's accusations of militarism at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday. He criticised Beijing's military expansion and lack of transparency instead.
Koizumi spoke on the final day of the defence summit. He described Japan's defence updates as a natural response to new challenges and pledged to proceed with high transparency and dialogue.
The minister directly rebutted claims of "new militarism", calling the label "nothing further from the truth". He pointed to China's "huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers" as the real source of international concern.
Tensions have risen since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office in October 2025. Japan has raised its defence budget above 9 trillion yen and plans further steps including weapon exports and revisions to security documents by the end of the year.
Following the speech a Chinese military representative asked about wartime apologies. Koizumi sidestepped the question and reiterated concerns over China's military activities.
