China protests Japan defence white paper on Taiwan
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- China's Foreign Ministry complained on Aug 5 over Tokyo's newly released defence white paper, accusing Japan of exaggerating the Chinese threat and making "unwarranted comments" about Taiwan
- Japan's defence white paper, released Aug 4, claims China has intensified military activities around Taiwan and states the "overall military balance between China and Taiwan is rapidly tilting in China's favour"
- Beijing declared Taiwan "purely China's internal affair" that "brooks no interference from the Japanese side," defending its own military activities there as "legitimate and reasonable"
- Japan-China ties had already sunk to their worst level in years after PM Sanae Takaichi said in November Japan could deploy its Self-Defence Forces if a Chinese attack on Taiwan also threatened Japan's survival — a remark Beijing called "egregious" and demanded she retract
- Japan's white paper frames its accelerating military build-up as both a defence and an economic growth measure, arguing that arms production can support prosperity
- China accused Japan of accelerating remilitarisation rather than reflecting on its history of aggression, urging the international community to "curb Tokyo's build-up"
Why it matters: Japan-China ties were already at their worst in years before this complaint: PM Takaichi said in November Japan could deploy Self-Defence Forces if a China-Taiwan conflict threatened Japan's survival. With Tokyo's white paper now explicitly framing arms production as an economic growth driver, Beijing is escalating by urging the international community to 'curb' Japan's build-up.
