Japan should wake up from old dream of militarism at early date: Defense Spokesperson

BEIJING, Apr. 25 -- "Japan, as a victim of nuclear explosions, instead of asking the US to conduct nuclear disarmament, chooses to rely on the US's nuclear umbrella and works with the US in the forward deployment of its strategic forces, which undermines regional and global strategic balance and stability," said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, at a regular press conference on Thursday afternoon.

According to media, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently claimed that China's accelerated expansion of its nuclear arsenal poses a concern to global and regional stability. Meanwhile, the Diplomatic Bluebook 2024released by Japan recently played up the so-called "China threat", claiming China represents the unprecedented and greatest strategic challenge.

"Japanese remarks are purely false narratives, and we are firmly opposed to that," Wu remarked, noting that China stays committed to a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, pursues a nuclear strategy of self-defense, and adheres to a nuclear policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances.

He stressed that China always keeps its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required for national security and never engages in any form of arms race, and any country will not feel threatened by China's nuclear weapons as long as it does not use nuclear weapons against China.

For the behaviors of repeatedly making an issue of China by Japan, the spokesperson pointed out that Japan aims to disguise its dangerous moves of freeing itself from the Pacifist Constitution and following again the path of military expansion. He also urged the Japanese side to wake up from the old dream of militarism at an early date, stop baseless accusations against China, stop creating tensions in the region, and refrain from being the troublemaker for regional peace and stability.