Japan's war capability exceeds its defense need

The white paper on national defense in 2005 passed by the Japanese cabinet on August 2 says that Japan would pay close attention to China's military movement. Without any factual basis, the Japanese government irresponsibly played up "China military threat", which actually aims to make excuses for its arms expansion.

It's impossible for China to pose military threat to Japan

The paper says that in the last five years, China's expenditure on national defense has doubled, with this year's total military spending reaching $30 billion, up 16.5 percent over the previous year. In view of this, Japan needs to watch whether China's defense strength has gone beyond the necessary limit. However, Japan's military expenditure this year touches $45 billion, 50 percent more than that of China, while the territory China must defend is 27 times that of Japan.

The paper claims that the Chinese navy has switched from coastal defense operation to expanded offshore operation. China's air force has also developed from the original "land-based defense" toward an "integrated offensive defense". As a matter of fact, the Japanese government has long begun to fabricate "China military threat" under various pretexts. A military think tank for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in a report last September: "Continual increase of China's national defense expenditure and the opacity of its national defense policy have constituted a military threat to Japan's surrounding regions." China has promised to the world that it would never seek hegemony. In history it has not committed aggression against any other countries. What's more, it is impossible for China to constitute either economic or military threat to Japan. China's economic aggregate is only one-fourth that of Japan, in science and technology, Japan owns the technology to make various kinds of state-of-the-art weapons, which can build not only the most advanced conventional weapons in the world, but also the most important technologies and components in the missile defense system for the US.

Japan's war capability has surpassed its defense need

Analysts here believe that Japan's exaggeration of "China military threat" serves US' global strategy and Japan's Asian strategy, searching excuses for its rocketing military expenditure and arms expansion targeting China. In terms of military strength, the war capability of the Japan Self-Defense Force has long surpassed the need for "defense".

Japan's Air Self-Defense Force is one of the world's two air forces equipped with the most sophisticated F15 fighters. The combat ability of the Maritime Self-Defense Force can only be matched by the US' 7th fleet in the Far East. Japan Self-Defense Force has for a long time maintained a 3:1 officers-to-soldiers ratio. It can expand by several times when necessary.

Many in Japan hold that after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, military threat from the north has diminished. Therefore there are voices in Japan calling for cutting back military expenditure. If no "new threat" were created under such circumstance, the Japanese government would have no reason to keep such a powerful military force.

Analysts believe a constantly developing China is most liable to be taken as "threat" and which is exaggerated by Japan. So, whenever a chance arises, Japan will try by every possible means to play up "China threat" and treat China as an imaginary enemy in an attempt to win Japanese public's "approval" to keep a large military force. Its intention is clear as daylight.

By People's Daily Online