TOKYO, July 21 (UPI) — Japan faces serious security risks in an unstable region, and China is accountable for the increase in threats, according to a Defense Ministry white paper approved Tuesday.
The report runs more than 400 pages and devotes a significant portion to China’s “high-handed” actions in the East China Sea and South China Sea, The Japan Times reported.
China “has attempted to materialize its unilateral claim without making compromises,” the report read.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Tuesday China’s “lack of transparency in terms of military and security affairs” was of concern to Tokyo.
“Our country needs to observe [China] closely,” Nakatani said.
According to the paper, China has been constructing an offshore gas platform in the East China Sea since June 2013, but Tokyo’s ruling party suspects the platform is being built for Beijing’s military use, the Times reported.
China also “routinely” dispatches vessels to the disputed Senkaku, or Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, and Japan sent fighter jets to intervene 464 times in 2014, when Chinese aircraft flew close to Japanese airspace.
South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported Tokyo devoted a larger share of the defense paper to China at a time when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to convince citizens of the need for a greater military role for Japan.
Last week, thousands of protesters gathered in Tokyo to express opposition to security bills that could give Japan’s army capabilities that it did not have under a pacifist constitution.
Japan also said in statement that Tokyo cannot ignore a nuclear North Korea, and the risk nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles could reach Japan has increased. The risk of military provocation also is high because of the frequent changes in defense personnel in Pyongyang, according to Tokyo.
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