Headline (English translation): Junzhengping: Japan's Defense White Paper Again Plays Up the "China Threat" — What Sinister Intent Lies Behind It?

原标题: 钧正平：日本《防卫白皮书》再次渲染"中国威胁"，背后藏着什么祸心？

Source: Junzhengping Studio (China Military Online / 81.cn) | Editor: Chen Lei | May 19, 2026, 15:42

Original: http://www.81.cn/zt/2023nzt/jzpgzs_244884/16462096.html

Translated by Claude, edited by Sinocism.com

Recently, the draft of Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper was made public. As the first defense programmatic document released after the new Japanese government took office, this draft has not broken out of the old playbook of deliberately stoking confrontation and manufacturing security anxieties year after year. The text is replete with unfounded smears against China's military development and normal maritime activities, and aggressively hypes the so-called "China threat theory."

近日，2026年版日本《防卫白皮书》草案曝光。作为新一届日本政府上台后发布的首份防卫纲领性文件，这份草案并未跳出往年刻意渲染对立、制造安全焦虑的旧套路，通篇充斥着对中国军事发展和正常海洋活动的无端抹黑，大肆炒作所谓"中国威胁论"。

Any clear-eyed observer can see that this narrative, which inverts right and wrong, may appear on its face to be Japan's concern over regional security, but in reality it is a carefully crafted pretext for Japan to unshackle itself militarily and engage in large-scale rearmament. Across the draft, subjective conjecture and double standards abound. The document refers to last year's twin-carrier formation exercises by the Chinese Navy in Pacific waters and unjustifiably accuses Chinese military activity of "aggravating regional tensions," hyping such themes as the alleged "abnormal proximity" of warplanes and the "lack of transparency" of activities at sea. The facts, however, are that the Chinese military's regularized far-seas exercises and maritime patrols all fall within annual routine training plans, strictly observe relevant international law and international practice, and have never proactively provoked disputes or threatened the security of any country.

明眼人一看便知，这套颠倒是非的叙事，看似是日本对区域安全的担忧，实则是其为自身军事松绑、大肆扩军备武精心编织的借口。纵观草案全文，充斥着主观臆断与双重标准。文中，日方提及去年中国海军在太平洋海域的双航母编队演训，无端指责中方军事活动"加剧地区紧张"，炒作所谓战机"异常接近"、海域活动"不透明"等议题。然而事实是，中国军队常态化开展远洋演训、海域巡航，均属于年度计划内的例行性训练，且严格遵循相关国际法与国际惯例，从未主动挑起争端或威胁任何国家的安全。

It is the Japanese side, on the contrary, that deliberately evades the fact that it has long conducted high-frequency reconnaissance and surveillance and close-in provocative harassment in surrounding waters, and that turns a blind eye to its own actions in frequently roping in extraregional forces to carry out large-scale joint military exercises and in continually pushing forward the outward deployment of military power. Stigmatizing China's normal national defense building as a "security threat" is in essence a textbook case of inverting black and white and confusing public perception.

反倒是日方，刻意回避自身长期在周边海域开展高频侦察监视、抵近挑衅滋扰的事实，也无视自身频繁拉拢域外势力开展大规模联合军演、持续推进军事力量外向化部署的举动。将中国正常的国防建设污名化为"安全威胁"，这种行为本质上是典型的颠倒是非、混淆视听。

As for Japan's accusation that China's "defense expenditure lacks transparency," that is even more absurd. Data show that Japan's defense spending per capita has already reached three times that of China, and per-capita defense spending per Self-Defense Forces service member is more than twice that of China. A country that raises its defense budget sharply every year, that has set record-high military spending for many consecutive years and has now broken through 9 trillion yen, turning around to point fingers and pass judgment on China — which adheres to peaceful development and pursues a defensive national defense policy — is sheer "thief crying stop thief."

至于日方对中国"国防开支缺乏透明度"的指责，更是荒谬。数据显示，日本国民人均防卫开支已达中国的三倍，自卫队员人均防卫开支更是中国的两倍有余。作为一个年年大幅增加防卫预算、连续多年军费开支创新高并突破9万亿日元的国家，却反过来对坚持走和平发展道路、奉行防御性国防政策的中国指手画脚、说三道四，实属贼喊捉贼。

It is plain to see that this malice-filled white paper is a continuation of the series of hardline policies toward China pursued by the Takaichi government. Just a short time ago, Japan's new edition of the Diplomatic Bluebook downgraded China-Japan relations from "the most important bilateral relationship" to an "important neighbor." The malicious phrasing of this defense white paper further underscores the Takaichi government's hostile stance toward China.

显而易见，这份充满恶意的白皮书，是高市政府一系列对华强硬政策的延续。就在不久前，日本新版《外交蓝皮书》将中日关系从"最重要双边关系"降级为"重要邻国"。而此次防卫白皮书的恶意表述，进一步凸显了高市政府的对华敌视立场。

What deserves vigilance is that Japan is using the hyping of the "China threat" as a pretext to carry out the substance of "military unshackling." In recent years, Japan has not only repeatedly and sharply increased its defense budget, but has also revised its "Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment" to export lethal weapons, and has launched large-scale force-structure adjustments, accelerating its transformation toward a military combining offense and defense. All signs indicate that Japan's so-called "exclusively defense-oriented policy" exists in name only, and that its "new militarism" current of thought is evolving from a dangerous early sign into a real threat to regional security. The deliberate amplification of the so-called "China threat" in this new defense white paper is in essence an attempt to shift domestic governance contradictions outward by constructing an "external enemy," to manufacture a public-opinion pretext for continued expansion of armaments and war preparation, for strengthening external military binding, and for intervening in regional affairs — ultimately serving its narrow geopolitical self-interest.

值得警惕的是，日本正借炒作"中国威胁"之名，行"军事松绑"之实。近年来，日本不仅连续大幅增加防卫预算，还修改了"防卫装备转移三原则"以出口杀伤性武器，并启动大规模编制调整，加速向攻防兼备型军队转型。种种迹象表明，日本所谓的"专守防卫"已名存实亡，其"新型军国主义"思潮正从危险苗头演变为现实的地区安全威胁。此次新版防卫白皮书刻意放大所谓"中国威胁"，本质上就是企图通过塑造"外部敌人"，来转嫁国内治理矛盾，为持续扩军备战、强化对外军事捆绑、干预区域事务制造舆论借口，最终服务于其狭隘的地缘政治私利。

What can be said with certainty is that Japan's disregard for facts and its repeated hyping of a false "China threat theory," its piling up of confrontational rhetoric and manufacturing of security anxiety, will in the end come to nothing. Such lies can neither mislead the international community's understanding nor conceal Japan's own true ambition to expand its military and prepare for war, still less shake China's firm resolve to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests. On the very day the draft white paper was made public, some Tokyo residents held a rally in front of the Japanese Prime Minister's Office to protest the Takaichi administration's accelerated push for dangerous moves such as expanding the military and amending the constitution. This precisely demonstrates the clear-cut stance of peace-loving forces within Japan, and confirms that the Japanese government's schemes to expand armaments do not have the support of the people.

可以肯定的是，日本罔顾事实、反复炒作虚假"中国威胁论"，堆砌对立话术、制造安全焦虑，终究是徒劳无功。这种谎言既误导不了国际社会认知，也掩盖不了其自身扩军备战的真实野心，更撼动不了中国坚定维护国家主权、安全、发展利益的坚定决心。就在这份白皮书草案曝光当日，一些东京市民在日本首相官邸前举行集会，抗议高市政权加速推进扩军修宪等危险动向。这恰恰说明，日本国内爱好和平力量的鲜明立场，也印证了日本政府扩军备武的图谋不得人心。