BEIJING, Aug. 11 -- Japan's criticism of the Chinese military in a new defense white paperis ill-founded, China's Ministry of National Defense has said.
The Japanese cabinet approved the country's defense white paper for 2014 on Tuesday. Itsaid Japan needs to improve its defense capacity to cope with "an increasingly severesecurity environment," citing threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,China and Russia.
"The white paper has played the same old tune by making presumptuous comments onChina's normal defense and military development," Yang Yujun, spokesman for theMinistry of National Defense, said in a written statement on Sunday.
The white paper criticized what it claimed was a lack of transparency from China onmilitary matters. Yang also accused it of "hyping" the establishment of an air defenseidentification zone in the East China Sea and a recent encounter between Chinese andJapanese military aircraft.
"The white paper attempted to play up the so-called China threat to confuse theinternational community. China is firmly opposed to this and has lodged solemnrepresentations to Japan," he said.
Reiterating China's peaceful development path and defensive national defense policy, Yangsaid China is entitled to modernize its military without being subject to others' carping.
He said Chinese military actions in the sea and air space in which it has been active areabsolutely legitimate and have showed restraint.
The Chinese military has conducted international exchanges and established a system ofreleasing information through spokesmen in recent years. "China's efforts to open up areobvious to the international community, and Japan's criticism [of lack of transparency]doesn't hold water," according to the spokesman.
Yang said Japan ignored the facts and devoted much of the paper to misleading words toblemish China and the Chinese military, especially after China's release of evidenceregarding two Japanese self-defense force aircraft that dangerously approached a Chineseplane in June.
"Japan argued its planes did not act dangerously, which fully showed the hypocrisy ofJapan on its relations with China," he said.
The white paper attempts to make excuses for Japan's lifting of its ban on exercisingcollective self-defense, revising principles on arms exports and its own military buildup,the spokesman said, adding that it has sparked strong concern among Asian neighbors,including China.
"How can a country that refuses to admit and repent for its mistakes in history convincepeople on issues such as its adjustment of military and security policies with emptyrhetoric," Yang asked.
While pretending to be pacifist, Japan has brought threat to the region, stirring trouble onmaritime interests and having a negative impact on Asian security, he claimed.
One the one hand, Japan proclaims to want dialogue with China. But on the other, itpersists in its stance, hyping the so-called China threat, " Yang said. "We have to doubt itssincerity."
The spokesman urged Japan to reflect on its history of aggression, take history as a mirror,be cautious in words and deeds, take a peaceful development path and honor its defensivemilitary policy so as to gain trust from Asian neighbors and the international community.
