Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue Summit in Singapore on May 29, 2026. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
Jam Sta Rosa AFP | getty images
According to Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, “Japan’s door to negotiations is always open to the international community”, even as it increases defense spending and revises its arms export guidelines.
Speaking at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, Koizumi said Tokyo has consistently respected international law, adding that “Japan’s path as a peace-loving nation has been valued by the region and the international community. This fact will not be shaken by false claims because it is a fact.”
He also said that accusations of Japan engaging in “neo-militarism” were “nothing could be further from the truth.” China’s Defense Ministry on May 28 called on “the international community to jointly stop Japan’s “neo-militarism”. Government media outlet Xinhua.
Koizumi said, “Think about it. There is a country that has a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers. Japan has no such weapons, and yet Japan is labeled neo-militaristic. Isn’t that strange?”
The Japanese Defense Minister highlighted Beijing’s lack of a ministerial official at the dialogue and said he “felt sad” that he was unable to meet with Chinese counterpart Dong Jun at the forum.
Koizumi said that differences and differences of opinion arise between nations, but that there was no need to reiterate “baseless claims in the absence of the other side.”
After Dong skipped the talks for the second consecutive year, Beijing sent a low-level delegation led by Major General Meng Jiangqing from the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University.
Earlier in the dialogue, Meng had taken a dig at Tokyo, saying 2026 was the 80th anniversary of the opening of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, where Japanese leaders were tried for their crimes in World War II in 1946.
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