Tokyo's security push targeting Beijing undermines regional stability: Experts

陈小将

Japan has recently courted the US and the Philippines by hyping the "China threat", stirring up regional tensions and rallying relevant countries into confrontation. Such moves risk undermining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and increasing the likelihood of strategic miscalculations, experts say.

The Philippines and Japan signed a defense deal, the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement, on Thursday, which allows their armed forces to exchange supplies and services, as both sides seek to deepen security cooperation amid rising regional tensions.

Earlier, in September, the Reciprocal Access Agreement between the two of the United States' closest Asian allies came into force, allowing the deployment of forces of either country to the other's territory for joint and larger combat exercises.

Despite being framed as measures to enhance military cooperation, the two agreements are widely seen as targeting China, with Japanese and Philippine officials repeatedly playing up the "China threat" narrative during the signing ceremony.

On Jan 12, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met with the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command and again claimed that Tokyo would step up defense cooperation with Washington in response to China's "increasingly assertive actions" and what he described as a worsening regional security environment.

Kyodo News reported that Koizumi reiterated his commitment to boosting defense spending, saying Japan would expand deterrence capabilities with the US in southwestern areas, including Okinawa.

At a regular news conference on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China always believes that cooperation between countries should not target any third party or harm its interests, nor should it undermine regional peace and stability.

Despite criticism from Southeast Asian countries and the international community over the latest military and security developments in Japan, the Japanese side has shown no inclination to mend its conduct, and instead made up various pretexts to expand military buildup and export deadly weapons, further revealing Japanese right-wing forces' motive to remilitarize Japan and go back to the path of military expansion, Guo said.

"All peace-loving countries and people must firmly reject a revival of militarism and remilitarization in Japan and keep the region peaceful and stable," he said.