Japanese Defence Minister Koizumi Shinjiro walks to the podium before delivering a speech during the 23rd IISS Shangri-La Dialogue at the Shangri-La Hotel on May 31, 2026 in Singapore. (Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)
SINGAPORE — Japan’s defense minister has pushed back against Chinese allegations that Japan’s push to broaden regional defense cooperation was “new militarism,” saying that Tokyo’s increased defense spending and broader regional footprint has been conducted in a transparent fashion with regional security in mind.
Speaking on Sunday at the Shangri-la Dialogue security conference in Singapore, Shinjiro Koizumi noted that Japan did not possess nuclear weapons or strategic bombers like a “country with a huge arsenal” of these weapons, in an obvious reference to China.
He therefore found the allegation “strange,” further adding that Japan had consistently adhered to international law and the United Nations charter since the end of the Second World War.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning accused right-wing elements in the Japanese government of neo-militarism and adopting an expansionist defense policy in a press conference in early April, shortly after Japan announced a loosening of its arms export policies.
