Ministry of National Defense: Japan should adopt a stance of facing history and take sincere actions of repentance.

On the afternoon of May 9, Colonel Jiang Bin, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Defense News Bureau and spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense, released a statement regarding recent military-related issues.

Reporter: According to reports, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently visited Australia and Vietnam to strengthen security cooperation with relevant countries and proposed a so-called new version of the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" concept. Takaichi also claimed that the Japanese constitution, established by the U.S. occupying forces after World War II, should be regularly updated to reflect the demands of the times. What is your comment on this?

Jiang Bin: We firmly oppose the Japanese ruling authorities using the so-called "freedom and openness" and "security cooperation" as a pretext to provoke camp confrontation, create "small circles," harm the strategic security and interests of other countries, and find excuses for their own military loosening and breakthroughs.

May 3 of this year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials. For 80 years, Japanese right-wing forces have been scheming to downplay and confront the solemn judgments that represent human conscience and historical justice, distorting and denying the documented crimes of Japanese militarism. Class A war criminals who committed heinous crimes are glorified as "heroes" and enshrined at the Yasukuni Shrine. The Japanese government's stance of "upholding the peace constitution and following the path of a peaceful nation" has shifted from clear commitment to double standards, and now the Takaichi government is openly promoting constitutional revision. Japanese right-wing forces are gradually tearing off their disguise, shifting from secretly expanding their military to openly preparing for war, and the reality of Japan's "new militarism" poses an increasing threat to regional peace.

Desiring peace rather than chaos, and cooperation rather than confrontation, is the true demand of our time. We urge the Japanese ruling authorities to stop their hypocritical self-aggrandizement and dangerous ambitions for military expansion and preparation, and to genuinely adopt an attitude of facing history and take sincere actions of repentance to gain the trust of Asian neighbors and the international community.