Japan’s Minister of Defense Koizumi Shinjirō delivers his speech during a plenary session of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-la Dialogue Defence Summit in Singapore, 31 May 2026. Photo by HOW HWEE YOUNG / EPA
June 1 (Asia Today) -- Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi publicly rejected China's accusation that Japan is pursuing "new militarism," saying the criticism is misplaced given Beijing's nuclear arsenal and expanding military power.
Speaking Sunday at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Koizumi did not directly name China but said it was strange for a country with large numbers of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers to apply the label to Japan, which has neither.
He described the claim as false and stressed that Japan has remained a peace-oriented country that has complied with international law since the end of World War II.
The remarks were more than diplomatic rhetoric. China has criticized Japan's defense buildup as "new militarism" since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's parliamentary remarks last November on a possible Taiwan contingency.
