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DW
16-07-2025
- Business
- DW
Japan decries China threat after string of risky encounters – DW – 07/16/2025
Japan's defense officials have warned China's intensifying military activities could "seriously impact" its security, while also using their annual white paper to highlight the growing alliance of North Korea and Russia. The Japanese government called out China as posing "an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge" for Tokyo and its allies, using a notably sharper language than usual in its latest defense white paper. The annual document focuses on the current threats Japan is facing and the country's defense efforts. According to the 2025 paper, Beijing is expanding the areas in which it operates and becoming increasingly assertive. "International society is in a new crisis era and faces the biggest challenges since the end of World War II," Japanese officials said in the report issued this week, adding that China's "intensified military activities" are likely to continue and could "seriously impact Japan's security, which is a cause of grave concern." The document also highlighted the growing offensive capabilities of North Korea and its deepening security and economic alliance with Russia. "Russia has also been observed engaging in joint activities with China involving aircraft and vessels," according to Defense Minister Gen Nakatani. Analysts say the wording of this year's white paper reflects a string of military incidents in the last 12 months. "In the last year, there has been a lot more activity involving China, North Korea and Russia so it is no surprise that Japan is expressing its concerns more explicitly," said Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, an associate professor at Tokyo International University's Institute for International Strategy. He added that the security environment was "constantly changing." These changes are also illustrated by increasingly frequent confrontations between Chinese and Japanese troops. On July 7, a Japanese YS-11EB electronic surveillance aircraft operating in international air space over the East China Sea was intercepted by a Chinese JH-7 fighter-bomber, with the Chinese aircraft closing to within 30 meters (100 feet), according to the Japanese Defense Ministry. Another Chinese aircraft performed a nearly identical maneuver the following day. Through diplomatic and defense channels, Tokyo expressed "serious concerns" at the "abnormal approaches." Beijing refused to accept the complaint and accused Japan of "coming close and spying on China's normal activities." A similar incident took place in mid-June, when Chinese fighters operating from the aircraft carrier Shandong in the Pacific took up station around 45 meters from a Japanese P-3C reconnaissance aircraft for about 120 minutes. Over the last year, Chinese coast guard vessels and aircraft have been seen on hundreds of occasions operating in waters around the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, also known as the Diaoyu Islands, which Tokyo controls but China claims. A large Chinese buoy was also found inside the waters around the East China Sea archipelago. In August 2024, a Chinese military reconnaissance plane intruded into Japanese airspace over the Danjo Islands, part of Nagasaki Prefecture in the far southwest, causing Japanese fighters to scramble to intercept the aircraft. Tokyo also responded to the incident by summoning the charge d'affaires at the Chinese embassy to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "As well as these acts, China is being even more assertive in the South China Sea and in the Taiwan Strait and that is a pattern that we have also seen increasing year-on-year," said Hinata-Yamaguchi. Beijing was quick to hit back against the white paper, with its Foreign Ministry saying the Japanese document "reflects a wrong perception of China, interferes in China's internal affairs and peddles the false 'China threat,'" according to Chinese paper. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian also reminded reporters in Beijing that 2025 marks the 80th anniversary "of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression." "We urge Japan to deeply reflect on its historical crime, draw lessons from history and stop finding pretexts for its military buildup by talking up 'tensions' in the neighborhood," he was quoted as saying by the state-run daily. The Japanese white paper did mention that Tokyo is on course to meet its goal of increasing defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2027, up from 1.8% at present. And while that figure is still significantly below the 5% that the US is presently demanding that its allies spend on defense, Hinata-Yamaguchi said the white paper also contains a message for Washington. "Reading through the document it is clear that there is new concern about the alliance," he said. "It is not stated overtly, but reading between the lines you can see that Tokyo is telling the US that it is doing everything that it can to take greater responsibility for its own defense and that it wants the US to have confidence in it as an ally and a partner." Yakov Zinberg, a professor of international relations at Tokyo's Kokushikan University, said the latest white paper also hints at deepening concerns that China is building military alliances with North Korea and, more importantly, Russia in Northeast Asia. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "China and Russia have carried out a number of maritime and aerial military exercises in the last couple of years and I think it is very likely that there will be more such joint drills in the future," he said, suggesting that the intention is to demonstrate the nations' combined power and deter Japan from a more active resistance. In one maritime drill last year, a joint fleet of Chinese and Russian warships circumnavigated the Japanese archipelago in what was widely interpreted as a show of force. "Japan is extremely worried about this US administration and its commitment to the security alliance because President [Donald] Trump is simply so unpredictable," Zinberg said.
CNN
16-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
China, North Korea and Russia represent biggest security challenge since World War II, Japan says
Japan is facing its most severe security environment since World War II as three potential adversaries in East Asia – China, Russia and North Korea – ramp up military activities in the region, the country's defense minister said Tuesday. 'The existing order of world peace is being seriously challenged, and Japan finds itself in the most severe and complex security environment of the post-war era,' Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said in an introduction to the ministry's annual defense white paper. China's military activities present 'an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge' to Japan, the report said. Beijing is 'rapidly enhancing its military capability in a qualitative and quantitative manner' while 'intensifying' activities around the region, Nakatani said, specifically mentioning the Senkaku Islands, a chain in the East China Sea that Tokyo controls but which is also claimed by Beijing, which calls them the Diaoyus. The 34-page document gives a dire outlook on the future of the region, especially on the rivalry between China and the United States, Tokyo's most important ally. 'The global balance of power is shifting dramatically and competition among states continues. In particular, the inter-state competition between the United States and China is likely to intensify even further in future,' the white paper says. The paper says escalating Chinese military activity around the democratically controlled island of Taiwan poses a threat. 'China seeks to create a fait accompli where the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is operating, and improve its actual combat capabilities,' it says. It cites a similar situation in the South China Sea and says PLA actions there are a legitimate Japanese concern because Tokyo has major sea lanes running through the waterway. Jiang Bin, a spokesperson for China's Defense Ministry, said Wednesday that Japan was 'hyping up the 'China threat,' and grossly interfering in China's internal affairs.' 'The Japanese side is fabricating false narratives to find excuses for loosening its military constraints,' Jiang said, referring to Japan's strict post-war constitution, which limits its military forces to self-defense only. And Japan's invocation of World War II is controversial in a region where fissures over Tokyo's devastating militarism during the period sour relations with many of its neighbors to this day. 'We urge the Japanese side to deeply learn from history, cease slandering and accusing China,' Jiang said. But the Japanese paper didn't only focus on Beijing's unilateral actions. As part of its expanded activities, the PLA is increasing cooperation with Russian armed forces, including joint bomber flights and naval patrols near Japan, the paper says. 'These repeated joint activities are clearly intended for demonstration of force against Japan,' it says. The report says that in the past fiscal year Japanese fighter jets scrambled 704 times, including 464 times in response to approaching Chinese aircraft and 237 times for Russian aircraft, a rate of almost two scrambles a day. Russia's three-and-a-half-year-old invasion of Ukraine, along with the buildup in the Russian military that has come with it, is a worry for Japan, especially because of its status as a key US ally, the report says. 'The security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is inseparable,' it says, and warns that a Ukraine-like war is possible in the region – without specifically mentioning where that might occur. The report says some of Russia's newest military hardware has been deployed to the Pacific. Moscow has added troops, missiles and warplanes to islands north of Japan, which the Soviet Union took toward the end of World War II, but which Japan says are sovereign Japanese territory illegally occupied now by Russia. North Korea, meanwhile, is further developing nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them, the report says. Pyongyang's ballistic missiles, believed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads, can cover the entirety of the Japanese archipelago, it says. 'North Korea's military activities are posing an even more grave and imminent threat to Japan's security than ever before,' the paper says. The Japanese paper echoed many of the concerns the head of the US military's Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Paparo, voiced in a posture paper in April. 'China continues to pursue unprecedented military modernization and increasingly aggressive behavior that threatens the U.S. homeland, our allies, and our partners,' Paparo said. The US commander also said the deepening cooperation between China and Russia as well as North Korea presents an increasing threat in the Pacific. 'Together, these countries' growing ties create a complex, interconnected challenge to U.S. national security and regional stability,' Paparo said. CNN's Joyce Jiang contributed to this report.
CNN
16-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
China, North Korea and Russia represent biggest security challenge since World War II, Japan says
Japan is facing its most severe security environment since World War II as three potential adversaries in East Asia – China, Russia and North Korea – ramp up military activities in the region, the country's defense minister said Tuesday. 'The existing order of world peace is being seriously challenged, and Japan finds itself in the most severe and complex security environment of the post-war era,' Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said in an introduction to the ministry's annual defense white paper. China's military activities present 'an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge' to Japan, the report said. Beijing is 'rapidly enhancing its military capability in a qualitative and quantitative manner' while 'intensifying' activities around the region, Nakatani said, specifically mentioning the Senkaku Islands, a chain in the East China Sea that Tokyo controls but which is also claimed by Beijing, which calls them the Diaoyus. The 34-page document gives a dire outlook on the future of the region, especially on the rivalry between China and the United States, Tokyo's most important ally. 'The global balance of power is shifting dramatically and competition among states continues. In particular, the inter-state competition between the United States and China is likely to intensify even further in future,' the white paper says. The paper says escalating Chinese military activity around the democratically controlled island of Taiwan poses a threat. 'China seeks to create a fait accompli where the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is operating, and improve its actual combat capabilities,' it says. It cites a similar situation in the South China Sea and says PLA actions there are a legitimate Japanese concern because Tokyo has major sea lanes running through the waterway. Jiang Bin, a spokesperson for China's Defense Ministry, said Wednesday that Japan was 'hyping up the 'China threat,' and grossly interfering in China's internal affairs.' 'The Japanese side is fabricating false narratives to find excuses for loosening its military constraints,' Jiang said, referring to Japan's strict post-war constitution, which limits its military forces to self-defense only. And Japan's invocation of World War II is controversial in a region where fissures over Tokyo's devastating militarism during the period sour relations with many of its neighbors to this day. 'We urge the Japanese side to deeply learn from history, cease slandering and accusing China,' Jiang said. But the Japanese paper didn't only focus on Beijing's unilateral actions. As part of its expanded activities, the PLA is increasing cooperation with Russian armed forces, including joint bomber flights and naval patrols near Japan, the paper says. 'These repeated joint activities are clearly intended for demonstration of force against Japan,' it says. The report says that in the past fiscal year Japanese fighter jets scrambled 704 times, including 464 times in response to approaching Chinese aircraft and 237 times for Russian aircraft, a rate of almost two scrambles a day. Russia's three-and-a-half-year-old invasion of Ukraine, along with the buildup in the Russian military that has come with it, is a worry for Japan, especially because of its status as a key US ally, the report says. 'The security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is inseparable,' it says, and warns that a Ukraine-like war is possible in the region – without specifically mentioning where that might occur. The report says some of Russia's newest military hardware has been deployed to the Pacific. Moscow has added troops, missiles and warplanes to islands north of Japan, which the Soviet Union took toward the end of World War II, but which Japan says are sovereign Japanese territory illegally occupied now by Russia. North Korea, meanwhile, is further developing nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them, the report says. Pyongyang's ballistic missiles, believed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads, can cover the entirety of the Japanese archipelago, it says. 'North Korea's military activities are posing an even more grave and imminent threat to Japan's security than ever before,' the paper says. The Japanese paper echoed many of the concerns the head of the US military's Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Samuel Paparo, voiced in a posture paper in April. 'China continues to pursue unprecedented military modernization and increasingly aggressive behavior that threatens the U.S. homeland, our allies, and our partners,' Paparo said. The US commander also said the deepening cooperation between China and Russia as well as North Korea presents an increasing threat in the Pacific. 'Together, these countries' growing ties create a complex, interconnected challenge to U.S. national security and regional stability,' Paparo said. CNN's Joyce Jiang contributed to this report.
South China Morning Post
15-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Taiwan tensions may heighten as Beijing boosts military activities: Japan defence report
Tensions over Taiwan may heighten, Japan's defence minister said on Tuesday as he presented an annual defence white paper that again singled out Beijing as Tokyo's ' greatest strategic challenge '. Advertisement Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani named China in the opening paragraphs of the report, declaring Beijing's military activities to be an 'unprecedented' challenge that Japan must counter through national strength and alliances with partner countries. It was the third consecutive year that the report used the designation. The white paper highlighted China's sweeping and rapid modernisation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), particularly in nuclear, missile, naval and air capabilities, over the past three decades. 'China has been swiftly increasing its national defence expenditures, thereby extensively and rapidly enhancing its military capability in a qualitative and quantitative manner, and intensifying its activities in the East China Sea, including around the Senkaku Islands and the Pacific,' Nakatani said, adding that PLA operations now extended beyond the first island chain into the second. The Senkaku Islands are known as the Diaoyus in China. Advertisement The report warned specifically of increased Chinese military and coastguard activity, including nearby manoeuvres by warships and aircraft, which Tokyo believed could 'seriously impact Japan's security'. The report also noted heightened PLA activity around Taiwan, citing frequent military exercises in nearby waters and airspace. It suggested Beijing was trying to create a 'fait accompli' by normalising its military presence in the region while building its combat strength.
Asahi Shimbun
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
Japan warns of China's military moves as biggest strategic challenge
Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani speaks during a news conference with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, March 30, 2025. (Pool Photo via AP) Japan raised strong caution against China's rapid acceleration of military activity in extensive areas from around its southwestern coasts to the Pacific, describing the moves as the biggest strategic challenge. China's growing joint operations with Russia also pose serious security concerns to Japan, along with increasing tension around Taiwan and threats coming from North Korea, the Defense Ministry said in an annual military report submitted to Cabinet on Tuesday. 'The international society is in a new crisis era as it faces the biggest challenges since the end of World War II,' the report said, citing significant changes to the global power balance while raising concern about an escalation of the China-U.S. rivalry. The security threats are concentrated in the Indo-Pacific, where Japan is located, and could get worse in the future, report says. Japan has accelerated its military buildup on southwestern islands in recent years, preparing to deploy long-distance cruise missiles, as it worries about a conflict in Taiwan, which China claims as its territory to be annexed by force if necessary. Taiwan launched 10-day annual live-fire military exercises last week intended to guard against Chinese threats to invade. Japan tested a short-range, surface-to-ship missile at home earlier last month. Chinese warships' advance into the Pacific has steadily increased, with the frequency of their passage off southwestern Japan tripling in the past three years, including in waters between Taiwan and its neighboring Japanese island of Yonaguni, the 534-page report said. The report comes days after Japan demanded China stop flying its fighter jets abnormally close to Japanese intelligence-gathering aircraft, which it said was happening repeatedly and could cause a collision. Beijing, in return, accused Japan of flying near Chinese airspace for spying purposes. Two earlier close encounters in June occurred over the Pacific Ocean, where Japan spotted two Chinese aircraft carriers operating together for the first time. China's increasing dispatch of aircraft carriers in the Pacific underscores the country's attempt to advance its sea power in distant waters, the report said. It said China's frequent dispatch of bombers for long distance flights in the Pacific by more sophisticated flight routes and fleet organization is seen as Beijing's attempt to show off its presence around Japan and to further advance its operational capability. The Defense Ministry noted two cases last year — a Chinese warplane's brief violation of Japanese airspace over waters off islands near Nagasaki and an aircraft carrier's entry into a zone just outside of Japan's territorial waters further southwest in the Nansei island chain. With U.S. President Donald Trump focusing on the strengthening of the U.S. economy and security, Japan and other U.S. allies face expectations to play a greater role for peace and stability in the region, the report said. North Korea poses 'an increasingly serious and imminent threat' for Japan's security, the report said, noting the North's development of missiles carrying nuclear warheads into the Japanese territory and solid-fuel ICBM that can reach the U.S. mainland. Russia maintains active military operations around Japan and violated the country's airspace in September, the report added, saying its increasing strategic cooperation with China has posed 'strong concern' for Japan's security.
