China slams Japan defense comments

Japan and China are in dispute over eight small islands in the East China Sea, including Uotsuri Island in Okinawa Prefecture

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192289.html

China has lashed out at Japan for publishing a report on Beijing's military build-up, claiming it depicts the country as a military threat.

In its annual defense report earlier this week, Japan expressed concern over China's growing assertiveness around Japan's waters, and what it called the "opaqueness" of Beijing's military budget, AFP reported.

"Opaqueness in its defense policies and military movements are concerns for the region, including Japan, and for the international community, and we need to carefully analyze them," it said.

Japan and China are in a long-running dispute over ownership of parts of the East China Sea.

Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu on Thursday described the report as “irresponsible.”

"The Japanese 2011 defense white paper made irresponsible comments on China's national defense construction. China expresses its strong dissatisfaction," he said in a statement published late Wednesday.

The spokesperson said that his country's drive to modernize its forces was "entirely for safeguarding its national sovereignty" and was "not targeting any other country.”

China's defense ministry also expressed "strong opposition" to the paper and said that it deliberately depicted China as a threat and had ulterior motives.