BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday China calls on all peace-loving countries to guard against and thwart any dangerous moves of reviving Japanese militarism and jointly defend the hard-won victorious outcomes of WWII.
Spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the remarks at a regular press briefing, in response to a query about recent comments by some foreign media outlets that Japan is transforming from a constitutionally pacifist state to a modern military power, and the country is attempting to resurrect militarism, which can only threaten regional and global peace and stability and is worthy of vigilance.
Guo said that Japan has in recent years been revamping its security and defense policies, accelerating the revision of its pacifist constitution, and breaching the exclusively defense-oriented principle, and that the country has removed the ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense, eased restrictions on arms exports, attempted to alter its three non-nuclear principles, and developed the so-called "enemy base strike capability."
He pointed out that Japanese senior officials even claimed that Japan has not ruled out the possibility of possessing nuclear submarines. "These moves have put Japan's neighboring countries and the international community on high alert," said Guo.
"We noted that after increasing its defense budget for 13 consecutive years, Japan now has the second highest military budget among Western countries. According to a European think tank, the revenues of Japan's top five defense firms surged by 40 percent year-on-year in 2024," said Guo.
"For a country who styles itself as constitutionally pacifist, talks about reflecting on its wartime past and claims to follow the exclusively defense-oriented principle, how does Japan justify its military buildup?" said Guo.
He went on to say that in fact, after WWII, the Japanese government has never completely reflected on its wars of aggression, many Japanese war criminals returned as active political figures and Self-Defense Forces members, some prime ministers and political dignitaries have insisted on visiting and paying respect to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals are honored. Historical facts have been soft-peddled and whitewashed in distorted textbooks, Guo added.
"Japanese right-wing forces did reflect upon the wartime past. However, they reflected not on Japan's war crimes, but on why Japan was defeated," Guo noted.
He said that the reckoning with Japanese militarism has never been completed. Instead, people will see the rising trend of reviving militarism.
It is imperative for the international community to remind Japan that the Potsdam Proclamation in Article 6, 7, 9 and 11 stated that there must be eliminated for all time Japanese militarism and its breeding ground, for we insist that a new order of peace, security and justice will be impossible until there is convincing proof that Japan's war-making power is destroyed politically and legally, and warlike ideas are fundamentally eliminated, said Guo.
He further pointed out that the Potsdam Proclamation also requires Japan to be completely disarmed and not to maintain such industries as would enable her to re-arm for war, and it's promised in the Japanese Instrument of Surrender that Japan will carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Proclamation in good faith.
These instruments with legal effect under international law and recognized by Japan clarified its international obligations as a defeated country, constitute the important cornerstone of the post-war international order, and serve as the political and legal prerequisite for Japan's return to the international community, noted the spokesperson.
"Japan's attempt of 're-militarizing' itself through accelerated military buildup will only make the world once again question where Japan is headed and demand another reckoning with its war crimes. China calls on all peace-loving countries to guard against and thwart any dangerous moves of reviving Japanese militarism and jointly defend the hard-won victorious outcomes of WWII," said Guo. Enditem
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