|
Taro Aso, Japan's foreign minister, has called China a "considerable threat", the most direct articulation yet of Tokyo's unease at Beijing's growing military clout.
Mr Aso's remark late this week prompted an immediate and sharp rejoinder from China -- which denounced the foreign munster as "extremely irresponsible" -- and appears likely to fuel political tensions between the two Asian neighbours.
Mr Aso said, that China's military spending had increased for 17 straight years, but that Beijing had been far from forthcoming about the nature and purpose of its military build-up.
"We would not be saying that [China] is a threat if the content of its military expenditure were clearly known," Mr Aso said. "The lack of transparency fans distrust."
China was a neighbour with a billion people and a nuclear bomb, he said. "It is beginning to become a considerable threat."
The remark from the foreign minister, an outside candidate to become Japan's next prime minister, came last Thursday in response to a reporter's question about a recent comment from Seiji Maehara, head of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. Mr Maehara, a defence expert, had also described China's military expansion as a direct threat to Japan.
Qin Gang, China's foreign ministry spokesman, dismissed such suggestions, saying China's peaceful intentions and the opportunity presented by the country's development were "obvious to all".
"It is extremely irresponsible for a Japanese foreign minister to make such remarks," Mr Qin said. "People cannot help but wonder about the intentions of a Japanese foreign minister who instigates such baseless 'China threat' theories."
Japanese foreign ministry officials tried to play down Mr Aso's comments, saying that he said China was increasingly perceived as a threat, not that he thought it was one himself.
"Our official position is that China's economic development is not a threat but a chance," said one foreign ministry official. However, its military build-up was cause for concern.
The same person criticised China's robust response, saying it jumped on the comments without investigating them properly first. "China is reacting to the Japanese press, not to the Japanese government," he said. "That's very unprofessional."
Mr Aso, a regular visitor to Yasukuni shrine, a hated symbol of Japanese nationalism in China, has frequently mentioned Beijing's growing military expenditure and perceived lack of transparency since taking office in October.
However, officials confirmed it was the first time he had used the word "threat" in that context.
|