China a “Considerable Threat,” Japanese FM Says

China’s nuclear weapons and conventional military buildup are developing the nation into a “considerable threat,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said today (see GSN, Oct. 20).

China is “a neighboring country with 1 billion people and nuclear bombs whose military spending has been growing by two digits every year for 17 consecutive years,” Aso said, according to Agence France-Presse.

“And the content of that is extremely unclear. If I say what this means, I recognize that it is becoming a considerable threat,” he added.

China quickly blasted back at Aso.

“As a foreign minister, to so irresponsibly incite such groundless rhetoric about a China threat, what is the purpose?” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

“China’s development has made commonly acknowledged contributions towards the world’s peace and stability, bringing East Asian countries, including Japan, great development opportunities,” he said (Agence France-Presse, Yahoo!News, Dec. 22).

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