Soldiers of the Japan Ground Self Defense Force in military march, 2014
TOKYO—Japan continues to keep a close eye on China's defense posture—viewing it as one of the major challenges to the region's security—even as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempts to smooth the way for a possible face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November.
Japanese defense officials said that the annual defense white paper released Tuesday had some "major additions" in its 20-page section on China, "given the various new developments in the past year."
Such developments include China's announcement in November it would set up an air defense zone in the East China Sea over islands whose ownership is disputed between Beijing and Tokyo. In the months following the announcement, Mr. Abe went on a campaign around the region to gather international support for a condemnation of China's escalation of tensions.
"Japan is deeply concerned" about the establishment of a defense zone, the paper said, calling it "profoundly dangerous." Such acts "unilaterally change the status quo, escalate the situation, and may cause unintended consequences in the East China Sea," the report said.
This year's white paper also mentioned China's military activities in the Indian Ocean, concluding China's navy "is enhancing its capability to execute missions in distant oceans."
In his forward to the paper, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera reiterated the Abe administration's concerns about the "intensifying severity of the security environment surrounding our country," and emphasized the "increased importance of the Self-Defense Force's activities to protect our people's lives, assets, land, sea and skies."
The 506-page white paper is the first to be issued since major shifts in defense policy under Mr. Abe. These include the lifting of a ban on arms exports and a controversial reinterpretation of the constitution to greatly expand the rules of engagement for the SDF—moves regarded with suspicion by China and South Korea.
While defense officials insist diplomacy goes hand-in-hand with defense in maintaining peace in the region, Mr. Abe has yet to hold a summit meeting with his Chinese counterpart since coming into office in December 2012. Moreover, the hawkish prime minister's mixed messages on his views of Japan's wartime atrocities in China and the Korean peninsula have chilled relations with his regional counterparts.
Mr. Abe has stepped up efforts toward a thaw in recent weeks, declaring he would like to meet with Mr. Xi when Beijing hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in November.
Japan's main government spokesman, chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga, denied media reports Monday that former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda delivered a message to Mr. Xi during a visit to Beijing in July, but said he would like to see a leadership meeting take place.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/japan-restates-concerns-about-chinas-defense-posture-1407201840
