According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian hosted a regular press conference on June 1. A reporter asked: Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi delivered a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday, promising to continue to strengthen Japan's defense capabilities. Although he did not mention China by name in his speech, he pointed out that there are countries that possess huge nuclear weapons arsenals and strategic bomber fleets. However, Japan does not possess any of the above weapons, but it has been labeled as a "new militarism". What is China’s comment on this?

Lin Jian: The remarks made by Japanese officials you mentioned are baseless and pale in the face of a series of history, legal principles, facts and figures, and cannot win the trust of Asian neighbors and the international community.

Japanese militarism committed heinous crimes during World War II, causing serious disasters to its Asian neighbors and allied forces. In order to prevent the resurgence of militarism, documents with the force of international law such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation clearly stipulate that Japan should be completely disarmed and must not maintain industries that can enable it to rearm. The Japanese Constitution also places strict restrictions on military strength, belligerent power, and war power, and establishes the principle of "exclusive defense" and a series of domestic laws and regulations.

However, what we see is that Japan’s latest defense budget has exceeded 9 trillion yen, setting a new post-war record for 14 consecutive years. Per capita defense expenditure has reached three times that of China. The proportion of defense expenditure in GDP has soared to 2%, and is even expected to further increase to 3.5%. The Defense Ministry’s military industry orders have tripled in the past five years. Since the current Japanese government came to power, it has accelerated the deployment of medium- and long-range offensive missiles, liberalized the export of lethal weapons, and promoted the revision of the Constitution and the three security documents in an attempt to further break through the regulations of international law and domestic laws and challenge the post-war international order. This Japanese official deliberately avoided historical responsibility and selectively ignored the above-mentioned facts. Instead, he tried to criticize and confuse the public. Is this a guilty conscience, or an attempt to cover up his ambitions for military expansion? Under such circumstances, Japan's so-called "dialogue" is also hypocritical. It is just posturing and pretentious without any sincerity.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Tokyo Trial. This justice trial convicted the numerous crimes of Japanese militarism and laid a legal foundation for the post-war international order. International experts and scholars have pointed out that Japan's recent series of wrong words and deeds are exactly the same as the militaristic preparations for war revealed in the Tokyo Trial, threatening regional peace and stability. The international community must be highly vigilant, jointly prevent and resolutely prevent "new militarism" from becoming a danger.