China Thursday launched a series of blistering attacks on key rival Japan after a defence paper approved by Tokyo criticised Beijing's military build-up and growing territorial assertiveness. China's foreign ministry branded the paper "irresponsible," insisting Beijing's drive to modernise its forces was entirely defensive, and expressed its "strong dissatisfaction".
State news agency Xinhua went further, accusing Japan of "China bashing" and warning the document could jeopardise relations between the neighbours, while the defence ministry also issued a statement condemning the paper. Japan's annual defence report, released this week, voiced concern over China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, and what it called the "opaqueness" of Beijing's military budget.
"The Japanese 2011 defence white paper made irresponsible comments on China's national defence construction. China expresses its strong dissatisfaction," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said.
China broke off all high-level contact with Tokyo last September after Japan detained a Chinese fishing boat captain whose vessel collided with Japanese coast guard patrol ships in waters claimed by both sides. The row between Asia's two biggest economies was their worst in years and undermined painstaking recent efforts to improve relations marked by decades of mistrust stemming from Japan's 1930s invasion of China.
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