China has strongly criticised Japan following reports that Japanese forces fired Type 88 missiles during the ongoing “Balikatan” joint military exercises with the United States and the Philippines, marking what has been described as Japan’s first overseas launch of offensive missiles since World War II.
Responding to a question during a regular press briefing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian accused Japanese right-wing forces of pushing the country towards accelerated remilitarisation and warned that this development poses risks to regional peace and stability.
“Japan once invaded and imposed colonial rule over the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, and thus shoulders grave historical responsibilities,” Lin stated.
He argued that while the international community marks 80 years since the opening of the Tokyo Trials, Japan has failed to adequately reflect on its wartime actions and is instead expanding military activities overseas under the guise of security cooperation.
“Not only has Japan, the aggressor, failed to deeply reflect on its historical crimes, it has even sent military forces overseas and fired offensive missiles under the pretext of security cooperation,” Lin added.
According to the spokesperson, the missile launch represents another example of what Beijing views as a broader shift in Japan’s defence posture. He claimed that Japanese right-wing groups are driving policies that exceed the country’s long-standing self-defence principles.
Lin further accused Tokyo of breaching its exclusively defence-oriented policy as well as relevant domestic and international legal frameworks.
“Some of their policies and actions have gone far beyond the scope of self-defence,” he said.
The Chinese official also linked Japan’s recent military posture to what he described as inadequate historical education and growing military rearmament strategies.
“The serious lack of education on true history, the fundamentally wrong historical views, compounded by strategies for military rearmament and preparation for war, have led to the malevolent emergence of neo-militarism in Japan and put regional peace and stability under threat,” Lin remarked.
Beijing urged Japan to “deeply reflect” on its history of militarist aggression and to exercise caution in military and security matters.
