Foreign ships, aircraft in East and South China Seas escalating tensions, says China

Tensions in the East and South China Seas have increased as a result of certain unnamed nations frequently sending out ships and aircraft to “show off their military force for self-interest,” according to China’s defence ministry on Saturday. Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for the ministry, said the measures have significantly exacerbated regional tensions, despite the fact that the overall situation in the East China Sea and South China Sea was largely stable, in response to a Japanese defence assessment highlighting Chinese threats. Tan claimed that Japan’s annual defence document “deliberately exaggerates the so-called Chinese military threat” and presented a “wrong perception” of China. He claimed that China had made forceful representations to Tokyo indicating its steadfast opposition to the publication. He reaffirmed Japan’s ongoing meddling in Chinese domestic affairs, violations of international norms, undermining of the foundation of Sino-Japanese relations, and aggravation of the Taiwan Strait issue. Japan’s annual military report, which was published last week, provided a sombre assessment of the threat posed by China’s territorial ambitions, its security alliance with Russia, and a belligerent North Korea. It expressed worry that Russia’s use of force to settle a disagreement set a precedent that undermines the security of nearby Taiwan, which Beijing sees as its own territory, and condemned Russia’s war on Ukraine as a “serious violation of international law” in last year’s document. Japan declared in December that it would double its defence spending over the following five years, beginning the country’s largest military buildup since World War Two. “China-Russia cooperation in the field of defence is based on non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties, and is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world, without posing a threat to any country,” Tan said. (With agency inputs)