Tokyo plays up 'military theory'

Japan keeps using China as an excuse to build up its military muscle as NHK, Japan's national public broadcasting organization, reported that the Tokyo's forthcoming white paper on defense warns that China's military movement has raised concerns worldwide.

Japan's 2012 white paper on defense questions China's military spending, citing data that shows it has increased 30 times in the past 24 years. The white paper says spending on defense will continue to grow as China develops aircraft carriers and other advanced weapons.

The annual report also said that Chinese naval ships have appeared more frequently in the Pacific Ocean, especially in the East and South China Sea and waters off the Diaoyu Islands, according to NHK.

"Japan is rendering China a threat and making China a good excuse," said Wang Fan, director of the Institute of international relations at China Foreign Affairs University.

Wang said Japan is working with the US on Washington's return to Asia-Pacific strategy because Tokyo does not have an independent defense strategy.

"Tokyo and Washington are processing a new round of military deployment, and they need domestic support. So they have singled out China and played up the 'threat theory.'

"Japan aims at strengthening both its military power and military alliance with the US," said Liu Jiangyong, an expert on Japan studies and vice-dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University.

During a news briefing on Wednesday, Koichiro Genba, Japan's foreign minister, admitted that "active movements of Chinese naval ships" serve as one of the reasons for his country to strengthen its south-west islands and deploy Osprey - a US-made multi-mission, military tilt-rotor aircraft, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Liu said Genba's statement is "not surprising", and Japan already sees Beijing as a bigger threat than Pyongyang.

"Japan is always worried that China's growth will be provocative, since even China's means of self-protection might simultaneously pose a threat."

Liu said China's spending on defense has lagged behind spending on agriculture and education for a long time.

"But now that China's economy has expanded and fiscal revenue has increased, it naturally spends more on national defense."

Wang said the increase represents nothing more than a necessary process to modernize China's military.

"Both Japan and the US clearly know that the increase in China's military budget comes from upgrading its self-protection capability. China has not yet achieved military modernization, and it needs better technologies to deal with new challenges."

"Last but not least, the fact that China has increased defense spending does not prove China presents a military threat to any other country," Wang said.

Regarding Japan's long-term defense policy, he also warned that right-wing activists in the country might stir up more trouble on issues related to offshore islands.

Liu added that the US will continue to have a significant influence on the policies of Japan's government.