Japan white paper accuses China of 'pushy behaviour'

(Vatican Radio)  Japan's government on Tuesday approved a new defence white paper, which casts China as a security threat to the region. Japan's leaders are currently shaking up that nation's own military profile and reviewing its pacifist posture.

Listen to Alastair Wanklyn's report:

The white paper by Japan's defence ministry surveys threats ranging from cross-border terrorism to what it characterises as pushy behaviour by China in the East and South China seas. In a speech on Monday, Japan's prime minister said: "The strong should not abuse the weak on the free oceans."

Shinzo Abe has cited China as one reason why he's sponsoring an expansion in the kinds of overseas missions Japanese troops can take part in. Bills to achieve that are currently heading through Japan's parliament.

Polls show that Japanese voters are wary of changes that invoke the memory of the nation's actions before and during World War II. Critics accuse Abe's Liberal Democratic Party of sidelining a constitutional commitment to pacifism without a public vote.

Some also see Abe's hand in ramping up the apparent threat from China. The defence white paper released on Tuesday was a second draft of the document. The first was reportedly rejected on the grounds that it was too soft on China.

There was no immediate reaction from Beijing, but earlier this month China's Foreign Ministry dismissed some criticisms as an attempt to "exaggerate" the threat China poses to the region.