Japanese militarism presents real threats

China's Foreign Ministry warned on Friday of the rampant and dangerous spread of Japanese neo-militarism, which imposes real threats to the world, and called on regional countries to stay on high alert.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for the ministry, made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on Japan's recent dangerous moves in the military and security fields.

Recent actions reflect the growth of Japanese neo-militarism at an alarming speed, including a sitting Japan Self-Defense Forces officer breaking into the Chinese embassy in Tokyo armed with a knife, a Japanese destroyer transiting the Taiwan Strait, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sending ritual and cash offerings to Tokyo's notorious Yasukuni Shrine for two consecutive days. The shrine honors 14 convicted Class-A Japanese war criminals from World War II.

In a recent online survey among respondents worldwide, 82.5 percent said the Japanese right-wing's remilitarization moves have basically the same expansionist logic of Japanese militarism that existed before WWII, and would lead Japan into a really dangerous situation again.

Japan has been lobbying around, peddling narratives with distorted facts in an attempt to prop up its image as a "peace-loving country", which is already in tatters, the spokesman said.

"When a country seeks to revise its pacifist Constitution, eases restrictions on exports of lethal weapons, deploys offensive missiles and significantly increases military spending, its real intention is to pave the way for military expansion, no matter what it says," Guo said.

Meanwhile, Guo noted that Japan has been interacting frequently with NATO to bring the non-regional military organization into the Asia Pacific.

Looking back on history, by fabricating "external threats" and inciting nationalism, Japanese militarism hijacked the state apparatus to launch wars of aggression abroad, committed heinous crimes, and brought immense suffering and catastrophe to the people of Asia and the Pacific, he said.

Today, Japan's right-wing forces have not only failed to deeply reflect on their history of aggression, but are also continuously pushing the country's security policy in an offensive and expansionist direction, seeking to accelerate Japan's "remilitarization" by rebuilding the military-industrial complex, the spokesman said. However, the world is not easily beguiled, he said.

Countries in the region — including China — must not allow Japanese militarism to be revived, must not allow the tragedies of history to be repeated, and must not allow anyone or any force to undermine peace and sow disaster in the region, he said.