Japan urged not to flare up regional tension
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Ministry of National Defense spokesman Yang Yujun answers questions at the news conference on Oct 25, 2012. |
Beijing on Thursday urged Tokyo not to "blindly show off military might" or to flare up regional tension by conducting frequent military drills with "extraterritorial nations" amid the festering dispute with China over the Diaoyu Islands.
"Japan, which has maintained strained relations with its neighbors recently, should reflect on the severe situation, instead of blindly showing off its military might," Ministry of National Defense spokesman Yang Yujun said at a news conference.
He was responding to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' conclusion from desktop maneuvers that China is doomed to fail in a war with Japan over the islands.
Such a conclusion is a farce to intimidate China while only escalating tension and revealing Japan's lack of confidence in its ability to defeat China, Meng Yan, deputy director of the International Communication Bureau under the Defense Ministry, and his colleague Zhou Yong, said in an article in Thursday's People's Daily.
Speaking of a potential Japanese-US joint military exercise off Japan's Okinawa, Yang said, "We always sternly oppose Japan frequently wooing extraterritorial nations for joint military drills that only increase regional tensions."
Kyodo News Agency said Japan and the United States were considering a joint military drill, which simulates retaking a remote island from foreign forces, in early November. Analysts say that it clearly targets China.
