CORRECTS -- No justification for military buildup by Japan: China

REMOVES MONDAY FROM INTRO; ADDS DAY IN 2ND PARA

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Strongly opposing what it called “military buildup” by Japan, China has said Tokyo has no justification for “creating hype on so-called China threat.”

“Japan’s new defense policy documents disregard facts, deviate from its commitments on relations with China and the common understandings between the two countries, and smear China’s defense and normal military activities. China firmly rejects this,” Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, has said on Friday.

He was responding to Japan’s move to adopt an updated version of its national security strategy that allows its armed forces to acquire what it called “counter-strike capability” in a major departure from its post-World War II pacifist posture.

The decision was announced last Friday, the first time in a decade, a move welcomed by the US, an arch-rival of China.

Tokyo’s new strategy also views China as the "greatest strategic challenge," calls North Korea a “graver, more imminent threat than before” and Russia a “serious security concern.”

“Japan will not succeed in justifying its military buildup by hyping up the so-called ‘China threat’,” said Wang.

Wang said the right-wing forces in Japan “cause trouble in the East China Sea and collude with certain countries to hype up and create tensions in the South China Sea.”

“This is the biggest challenge to regional peace and stability,” said Wang.