China urges Asia Pacific to firmly resist Japanese neo-militarism, safeguard regional peace

Countries in the Asia Pacific should watch out against and firmly resist reckless moves of Japanese neo-militarism to jointly safeguard order of peace in this region, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun at a press briefing in Beijing on Friday.

Guo made the remarks in response to a media query about a draft by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party that called for increasing defense spending.

"According to the latest statistics, Japan’s defense expenditure increased by 9.7 percent in 2025, which hit a record high. Its imports of weapons increased by 76 percent over the past five years. Japan’s defense budget has been increasing for 14 consecutive years, but Japanese right-wing forces are still clamoring for increasing defense spending. It once again shows that Japan’s 'country for peace' mask is coming off and it is slipping towards neo-militarism," Guo said.

The Potsdam Proclamation, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender and a series of documents with full legal effect under international law explicitly require Japan to be “completely disarmed” and not to maintain industries that “would enable her to re-arm for war.” After WWII, Japan’s Constitution also made strict restrictions on the country’s military forces, the right of belligerency and the right to war, and Japan has established the “exclusively defense-oriented principle” through legislation, said the spokesman.

"Japanese defense contractors were major engines for Japanese militarism to take the country hostage and invade others. Now, Japan’s right-wing forces are pursuing a surge in defense budget, relaxing its export restrictions on lethal weapons, supporting the development of the defense industry and even attempting to turn it into a pillar of the economy to serve its agenda of military buildup and remilitarization. Countries in the Asia Pacific need to watch out against and firmly resist reckless moves of Japanese neo-militarism to jointly safeguard order of peace in this region," Guo said.

China urges Asia Pacific to firmly resist Japanese neo-militarism, safeguard regional peace

The Shenzhou-23 crewed space mission conducted its last comprehensive practice before launch on Friday, completing function checks of all systems and other preparation work.

The combination of the spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket was transported to the launch site last Saturday and is scheduled for launch in the coming days, with all facilities and equipment at the launch site in good condition, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Carried out by the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the Xi'an Satellite Control Center, and various control stations under the coordination of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, the drill simulated all stages of the launch mission, including pre-launch preparations, liftoff, climb, and the in-orbit phase.

"The joint practice is to test the system's communication links, command capability, equipment, and personnel. Based on the current progress, everything is normal. What's going on in parallel is a full-system gas leak detection," He said.

The rehearsal validated the reliability of key systems, including the rocket, the spaceship, the launch site, the control and communication equipment, and the coordination between different systems. It also verified the functionality and technical status of the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft-rocket combination.

"The Shenzhou-23 spaceship is in the third batch of spacecraft after the completion of the construction of the space station. It incorporates many new quality control measures, and its payload transport capacity, reliability, and safety have all been significantly improved," said Li Zhe, an employee of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

With all facilities in good condition, the Jiuquan launch site will later conduct rocket propellant filling and launch operations.

Search and recovery drills are also underway at the landing site, in preparation for the return of the Shenzhou-21 crew.

Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship ready for launch