How Japan seeks to win over allies by refuting China’s militarism claim

Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s pushback against China signals a calculated bid to fend off accusations of Tokyo’s “new militarism” by Beijing to ensure that the label does not stick and slow Japan’s security reforms. His comments in recent weeks on separate instances are aimed at shaping the perceptions of Tokyo’s state partners, according to analysts. Speaking in his first published interview with foreign media as defence chief on June 17, Koizumi questioned the accuracy of China’s official military spending figures. Drawing a contrast with China, Koizumi said Japan would take a transparent approach to investing in new methods of warfare, such as drones and artificial intelligence, which were needed to keep up with the changing nature of conflict. “Our budgets undergo scrutiny and deliberation in parliament,” Koizumi said, questioning if the figures by China were “genuinely grounded in fact, backed by evidence, and highly transparent”. “When doubts arise on those points, how much effort do they put into explaining them?” Koizumi argued. In December, the US Pentagon said its assessments showed that China’s total defence spending for 2024 was 32 per cent to 63 per cent higher than the US$231 billion amount announced by Beijing. Koizumi’s comments came on the heels of his remarks at last month’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, where he challenged Beijing’s accusations of Tokyo pursuing “new militarism”. He argued it was China’s rapid military expansion and lack of transparency that posed a “serious concern” to the international community. Rejecting Koizumi’s comments on China’s military spending, Beijing accused Tokyo of spreading “baseless” claims, labelling his stance as inconsistent with facts and designed to mislead others. China’s accusations of Japan’s militarism stem from Tokyo’s growing security cooperation with the United States, its increased defence budget, a recent move to scrap a long-standing ban on exporting lethal weapons, and potential intervention over Taiwan, according to analysts. Bilateral ties deteriorated after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” that would prompt Japan to take military action in self-defence to support the island. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons. Shin Kawashima, an international relations professor at the University of Tokyo, said there was some dissatisfaction in Japan against the government for not issuing firm rebuttals over Beijing’s accusations. There was concern that China’s statements “might be taken at face value” by some nations, Kawashima said. Noting that neither Takaichi nor Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi had commented on China’s claims, Kawashima said Koizumi responded in a “matter-of-fact manner”. “The Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore may have been the first such instance, and this recent statement the next,” Kawashima said. Benjamin Ascione, assistant professor of international relations at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies in Waseda University, said: “The key purpose of China’s narrative is to deny Japan the legitimacy to become a normal security actor.” Koizumi’s rhetoric was designed for third parties, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the G7, he added. “By stressing that Japan’s budgets are scrutinised in parliament and asking whether China’s figures are genuinely transparent, he’s inverting the militarism charge: which of the two is actually the opaque, rapidly arming power?” Japan’s cabinet approved a record defence budget of US$58 billion for the financial year beginning in April, a 9.4 per cent increase over the previous year, making Japan the world’s third-largest defence spender after the United States and China. In April, apart from lifting the ban on the export of lethal weapons, Takaichi’s administration also convened an expert panel to revise Japan’s three core security documents by the end of 2026. “Smooth implementation of these security reforms requires some level of regional acceptance, and China’s militarism label risks undermining that regional acceptance,” Ascione said. “If the militarism frame were to stick, it has the potential to make partnering with Tokyo politically awkward.” Given the “locked in” tensions between Japan and China currently, Takaichi could not retract her Taiwan comments “without fracturing her base and signalling unreliability to Washington”, Ascione said. China has retaliated against Takaichi’s comments by imposing export controls on military-use technology and broad economic and travel restrictions against Tokyo, moves that Ascione described as “hard to unwind regardless of what Japan does”. Paul Midford, a professor of international politics at Meiji Gakuin University in Yokohama, said both countries would have to start a diplomatic process if they desired to ease their bilateral tensions. “[It will involve] carefully crafting a diplomatic product that China can claim is a retraction from Takaichi, but which Japan will claim is not a retraction,” Midford said. He cited how China and Norway responded to the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize award to Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. Beijing has condemned the award a politically motivated attack orchestrated by Western powers to force political change in China. The statement allowed China to claim Norway apologised, while Oslo stood its ground and said it did not, according to Midford. “That is the kind of diplomatic product China and Japan will need to craft to resolve the current impasse in their relations,” he said.

How Japan seeks to win over allies by refuting China’s militarism claim

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi questions the accuracy of China’s military spending data, contrasting it with Japan’s transparent approach

Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi questions the accuracy of China’s military spending data, contrasting it with Japan’s transparent approach