Sino-Japanese relations remain tense as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takamichi's administration's first draft of the annual government "Defense White Paper" was revealed this week. The draft expresses vigilance toward Chinese military movements around Japan, citing increasingly frequent activities on the Pacific side, such as the first-ever simultaneous deployment of two aircraft carriers in the Pacific last June, and cases of fighter jets approaching SDF aircraft "abnormally close."
The draft also points out the need to respond to China through comprehensive national power and cooperation with allies and like-minded countries.
According to Kyodo News Agency on Saturday (May 16), the 2026 edition of the "Defense White Paper" report is expected to be discussed in a Cabinet meeting as early as July.
The draft White Paper also mentions the incident last December when a Chinese military aircraft illuminated SDF planes with radar southeast of Okinawa Island, accusing China of "continuing to raise its defense spending at a high level with a lack of transparency."
The draft analysis says that mainland China has repeatedly conducted military exercises in the sea and airspace around Taiwan, aiming to normalize such activities and enhance its combat capabilities.
The draft also notes that China has strengthened its cooperation with Russia by having the two countries' bombers conduct joint flights over the East China Sea and the Pacific near Japan's Shikoku region, expressing serious concern as a result.
Last July 15, Japan's Ministry of Defense released the annual "Defense White Paper," labeling China as an "unprecedented major strategic challenge," expressing serious concerns about Chinese military activities, which elicited a strong protest from China, who firmly opposed and lodged a solemn representation with Japan.
The 2025 edition of the "Defense White Paper" states that a series of incidents around Japan, including Chinese military aircraft entering Japanese airspace last August, "has already created a situation posing potentially serious impact on Japan's security."
The section on China's activities in the 2025 edition is longer than in the 2024 edition, with new references expressing "increasing concern" over mainland China's heightened military activity around Taiwan. The White Paper elaborates on a series of large-scale military exercises carried out by mainland China around Taiwan in the past year.
Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Jiang Bin responded last July 16, saying that Japan was fabricating false narratives to find excuses for loosening its own military constraints, hyping up the "China threat," and crudely interfering in China's internal affairs.
Jiang Bin criticized that Japanese militarism had brought great disasters to China and its Asian neighbors; instead of serious reflection, Japan was showing again dangerous signs of military buildup and arms expansion, significantly increasing its defense budget, constantly relaxing weapon export restrictions, forming military "small circles" to engage in bloc confrontation, and even raising voices about amending the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" from time to time.
He said Japan’s actions have brought significant challenges to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, which has aroused high vigilance and deep concern among neighboring Asian countries and the international community.
On the same day, Liu Jinsong, Director-General of the Asian Affairs Department of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also summoned Akira Yokochi, Minister at the Embassy of Japan in China, to lodge a solemn representation.