East China Sea U.S.–China Military

[Bilingual] Ministry of National Defense: The International Community Must Fully See Through Japan's 'Deceptive Diplomacy' and 'Victim Disguise'

【双语】国防部：国际社会应充分认清日方“欺骗式外交”“受害者伪装”

PLA Daily (解放军报) 28 May 2026

Summary

At the May 28 MND press conference, Spokesperson Senior Colonel Jiang Bin responded to Japan's draft Defense White Paper—attributed to the Takaichi administration—by accusing Tokyo of 'deceptive diplomacy' and a 'victim disguise,' and called on the international community to collectively contain Japanese 'neo-militarism.' The statement extends Beijing's sustained rhetorical campaign framing Japan's defense buildup as offensive and historically illegitimate, deploying the 'gray rhino' metaphor to frame remilitarization as a foreseeable, accelerating threat rather than a hypothetical one. The specific call to 'jointly contain' Japan raises the question of whether Beijing is actively soliciting third-party alignment against Tokyo's defense posture, or whether this is standard MND boilerplate directed at a domestic and regional audience.

Translation

Ministry of National Defense: The International Community Must Fully See Through Japan's 'Deceptive Diplomacy' and 'Victim Disguise' MND: The International Community Must See Through Japan's "Deceptive Diplomacy" and "Victim Portrait"

On the afternoon of May 28, the Ministry of National Defense held a routine press conference, at which Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson Senior Colonel Jiang Bin answered questions from reporters.

Reporter: According to reports, recent media disclosures of the draft of the Sanae Takaichi administration's first Defense White Paper reveal that it frames China's activities in the Pacific as a "security threat" and expresses vigilance. Additionally, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary stated that Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy (専守防衛) remains unchanged, and that China's characterization of Japan as pursuing "neo-militarism" does not hold. What is your comment?

Question: According to reports, recent media disclosures of the draft of the Sanae Takaichi administration's first Defense White Paper reveal that it frames China's activities in the Pacific as a "security threat" and expresses vigilance. Additionally, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary said that Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy remains unchanged, so China's criticism regarding neo-militarism is completely off the mark. What is your comment?

Jiang Bin: Japan's words and deeds are inconsistent—the more it tries to cover this up, the more apparent it becomes. In recent years, the Japanese government has sharply expanded its defense budget, developed and deployed offensive weapons, eased restrictions on the export of lethal weapons, pushed to revise the pacifist constitution, advocated becoming a "war-capable" (能战) nation, and even clamored for abandoning the three non-nuclear principles. If this can still be called "exclusively defense-oriented," then the word "offensive" does not exist in the dictionary. Japanese militarism once brought catastrophic disasters to the world and calamity to the Japanese people themselves. The "gray rhino" of Japan's "remilitarization" is now charging forward—this cannot but serve as a wake-up call. The international community must fully see through Japan's "deceptive diplomacy" (欺骗式外交) and "victim disguise" (受害者伪装), and jointly contain Japan's "neo-militarism" (新型军国主义) to safeguard peace and stability in the region and the world.

Jiang Bin: What Japan does contradicts what it says. The more it tries to whitewash the inconsistency, the more obvious it gets. In recent years, the Japanese government has sharply hiked its defense budget, developed and deployed offensive weapons, eased restrictions on exporting lethal weapons, pushed to revise the pacifist Constitution, clamored to be a war-capable nation, and even touted abandoning the three non-nuclear principles. If these actions still qualify as "exclusively defense-oriented", then there would be no such word as offensive in dictionary. Japanese militarism once brought catastrophic disasters to the world and to Japan itself. Now the gray rhino of a remilitarized Japan is gathering speed, causing inevitable concerns and alarming many countries. The international community must see through Japan's "deceptive diplomacy" and "victim portrait", and work together to contain Japan's neo-militarism and safeguard peace and stability in the region and beyond.

Original Chinese

国防部：国际社会应充分认清日方“欺骗式外交”“受害者伪装” MND: The International Community Must See Through Japan's "Deceptive Diplomacy" and "Victim Portrait" 5月28日下午，国防部举行例行记者会，国防部新闻发言人蒋斌大校答记者问。记者：据报道，近期媒体披露了高市早苗政府任内首份《防卫白皮书》草案，其中将中方在太平洋的活动渲染为“安全威胁”并表示警惕。同时，日本内阁官房长官表示，日本“专守防卫”政策没有改变，中方关于日本“新型军国主义”的说法不成立。请问对此有何评论？ Question:According to reports, recent media disclosures of the draft of the Sanae Takaichi administration's first Defense White Paper reveal that it frames China's activities in the Pacific as a "security threat" and expresses vigilance. Additionally, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary said that Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy remains unchanged, so China's criticism regarding neo-militarism is completely off the mark. What is your comment? 蒋斌：日方言行不一，越描越黑。近年来，日本政府大幅扩充军费，发展部署进攻性武器，放宽杀伤性武器出口，推动修改和平宪法、鼓吹成为“能战”国家，甚至鼓噪放弃“无核三原则”。如果这也能叫“专守防卫”，字典里就没有“进攻”二字了。日本军国主义曾给世界造成深重灾难，也给日本人民带来灾祸。日本“再军事化”这头“灰犀牛”正奔袭而来，这不能不令人警醒。国际社会应充分认清日方“欺骗式外交”“受害者伪装”，共同遏止日本“新型军国主义”，维护地区和世界和平稳定。 Jiang Bin:What Japan does contradicts what it says. The more it tries to whitewash the inconsistency, the more obvious it gets. In recent years, the Japanese government has sharply hiked its defense budget, developed and deployed offensive weapons, eased restrictions on exporting lethal weapons, pushed to revise the pacifist Constitution, clamored to be a war-capable nation, and even touted abandoning the three non-nuclear principles. If these actions still qualify as "exclusively defense-oriented", then there would be no such word as offensive in dictionary. Japanese militarism once brought catastrophic disasters to the world and to Japan itself. Now the gray rhino of a remilitarized Japan is gathering speed, causing inevitable concerns and alarming many countries. The international community must see through Japan's "deceptive diplomacy" and "victim portrait", and work together to contain Japan's neo-militarism and safeguard peace and stability in the region and beyond.