Japan's defense minister has publicly called out China's military buildup, reframing Japan's own historic defense enhancements as a necessary response.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major Asian security conference, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi stated that China is "rapidly expanding" its military "without sufficient transparency." This was a direct pushback against Beijing's narrative that Japan is returning to "new militarism." Instead, Koizumi positioned Japan's actions as a defensive strategy rooted in its alliance with the United States.
These remarks didn't happen in a vacuum; they were timed against a backdrop of heightened regional activity. First, China's military, the PLA, has been conducting frequent "combat readiness patrols" around Taiwan throughout May. Second, just a day before the speech, the U.S. and Japan agreed to speed up the co-production of missiles, a concrete step to bolster their joint defensive capabilities. These actions give Koizumi's words immediate weight.
The context for this tension has been building for years. China announced a 7% increase in its defense budget for 2026, but the lack of a detailed breakdown fuels concerns about its true military spending and intentions. In response, Japan is methodically increasing its own defense budget toward the 2% of GDP target recommended by allies and has carefully revised its rules to allow for the export of defense equipment to partner nations. These moves are presented as transparent and rule-based, designed to counter China's accusations. This long-term trend of Chinese military drills and legal changes, like the 2021 Coast Guard Law, forms the foundation of Japan's current security concerns.
Ultimately, this is about shaping the international narrative. Japan is working to convince the world that its shift away from decades of pacifist policy is not an aggressive move. By emphasizing transparency, alliance cooperation, and a direct response to regional threats, Tokyo aims to justify its military normalization as a responsible action to maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific.
- Shangri-La Dialogue: A major annual defense summit in Asia where defense ministers and military chiefs discuss security issues.
- PLA (People's Liberation Army): The official name for China's armed forces.
- Gray-zone pressure: Coercive actions that are aggressive but fall short of an outright act of war, like using coast guard vessels in disputed waters.