JAPAN-DISPUTED ISLANDS/WHITE PAPER Japan ratchets up criticism of China in revised defence paper

Record ID: 146430

  • Title: JAPAN-DISPUTED ISLANDS/WHITE PAPER Japan ratchets up criticism of China in revised defence paper
  • Date: 21st July 2015
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF JAPANESE DEFENCE MINISTRY BUILDING, SOLDIERS RUNNING PAST COMMUNICATION TOWER ON TOP OF BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 5th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: At Sea
  • Country: At Sea
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC9JAHW2YXARTH7MHYR1KC135F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Japan ramped up its criticism of China's land reclamation and offshore platforms in disputed seas on Tuesday (July 21) in a hastily revised annual defence report.
    The 500-page white paper, approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government, includes satellite images of Chinese man-made islands in the South China Sea for the first time.
    China claims most of the 3.5 million sq km (1.35 million sq mile) South China Sea, with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also staking claims.
    Japan has no claim in the South China Sea but is in dispute with China over small islands in the East China Sea.
    After hawkish members of Abe's party complained that the report was too soft on China, the Defense Ministry appended a demand for China to halt construction of platforms in the East China Sea that it began two years ago.
    "We have confirmed that China has started construction of new ocean platforms and we stated in the white paper our opposition to unilateral development by China and called for a halt," Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said in a news conference on Tuesday.
    Japan's complaints about China's ocean platforms that Japan fears could be used as radar outposts in the East China Sea come as Japan is playing a more prominent role in the South China Sea dispute.
    Japan fears Chinese military bases in the South China Sea could bolster its influence over a region through which $5 trillion in trade passes every year, much of it to and from Japan.
    The paper outlining Japan's defense posture and perceived threats comes after its lower house of parliament last week passed legislation that for the first time since World War Two would allow Japanese soldiers to fight overseas.
    The new legislation, if finally adopted, will expand the scope for Japan's military to also provide logistics support to friendly countries, relax limits on peace-keeping operations and make it easier to respond to "grey zone" incidents falling short of war.
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