Asia on High Alert as China Lashes Out at Japan

JAKARTA, CNBC INDONESIA — China has lashed out at Japan. The government of President Xi Jinping accused Japan’s Defence Minister of spreading ‘baseless’ claims and causing confusion. According to AFP, this follows Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s statement on Sunday. He pledged to continue strengthening Japan’s military and warned about China’s opaque military buildup. His remarks followed months of diplomatic tensions between the two Asian nations, which began in November 2025 when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated that ‘Japan could intervene militarily if China attempts to seize Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by Beijing’. ‘They appear pale and weak in the face of a series of historical and legal facts and figures,’ said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian during a press conference, responding to Koizumi’s remarks on Monday (1 June 2026). ‘This Japanese official is deliberately attempting to reverse the situation and sow confusion,’ he added. ‘Japan’s so-called dialogue is merely hypocrisy and a performance for image-building, devoid of genuine sincerity.’ Under Takaichi’s leadership, Japan has accelerated its more proactive defence policies. The country is increasingly moving away from the passive stance it has maintained in its global strategy since the end of World War II. Earlier, Koizumi made his comments at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue hosted by IISS in Singapore. He stated that China’s growing military capabilities are ‘a major concern for Japan’. ‘Tokyo will continue to enhance its defence capabilities and implement continuous upgrades with high transparency, including in artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, and cyber and space defence,’ he said. In reality, Beijing has frequently condemned Tokyo’s adoption of ‘new militarism’. China states that such policies are reckless and could destabilise the region.