Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani shake hands at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, May 31, 2025. (Reuters/Edgar Su)
Jiang Bin, a spokesperson for China’s defense ministry, said Wednesday that Japan was "hyping up the ‘China threat,’ and grossly interfering in China’s internal affairs."
Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby lauded the report as an "important, clear-eyed strategic assessment."
The report also comes days after Japan accused China of risking near-collisions by flying its fighter jets abnormally close to Tokyo’s intelligence-gathering aircraft. China accused Japan of flying near Chinese airspace to spy.
The presence of Chinese warships off the coast of southwestern Japan has tripled in the last three years, including in waters between Taiwan and the neighboring Japanese island of Yonaguni, the paper said.
Russia has engaged in joint activities with China involving aircraft and vessels.
North Korea, meanwhile, poses "an increasingly serious and imminent threat" to Japan’s security, having developed missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads into Japanese territory and intercontinental missiles that could reach the U.S. homeland.
CHINA ACCUSES HEGSETH OF ESPOUSING 'COLD WAR MENTALITY' FOR LABELING COUNTRY AS A THREAT: 'VILIFIED'
Aircraft carrier Shandong and Yan'an missile destroyer (center) follow the original route through the East Lamma Channel to depart after an official farewell ceremony on July 7, 2025, in Hong Kong, China. (Hou Yu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
Japan, in return, continues to fortify its southwestern island chains with long-range cruise missiles, including U.S.-made Tomahawks.
The overall military balance between China and Taiwan is "rapidly tilting in China’s favor," according to the paper, and Taiwan’s defensive capabilities are increasingly outpaced, especially with China’s development of anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) systems and amphibious capabilities.
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"There is growing concern over China’s pursuit of unification through gray-zone military activities," the paper says, referring to incremental intrusion tactics without the launch of full-scale war.
Japan sees Taiwan’s security as directly tied to its own: Taiwan strait instability could disrupt vital sea lanes for Japan.
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