Japan’s Defence Minister takes veiled swipe at China at Shangri-La summit

1 JUNE 2026

Japan’s Defence Minister took a veiled swipe at China, pledging to keep strengthening the military despite Beijing’s criticism of Tokyo’s increasingly muscular security stance.
Under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Japan has quickened its pivot towards a more proactive defence policy, further shaking off — with U.S. encouragement — a pacifist outlook in place since the end of the Second World War.
The change has drawn frequent rebukes from Beijing, which has accused Tokyo of following a reckless policy of “new militarism” that could destabilise the region.
Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi hit back, saying “Think about it. There is a country that has a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers,” Mr. Koizumi said at the annual IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
A diplomatic spat between the Asian rivals has been rumbling since Ms. Takaichi suggested in November 2025 that Japan might intervene militarily if China were to attempt to seize Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims is part of its territory.