China dismisses Japanese concerns over military budget transparency

A spokesperson for China's military on June 25 pushed back against recent comments by Japan's defence minister regarding the transparency of China's defence budget, describing the allegations as unfounded smears and a conspiracy theory.

Speaking at a media briefing, Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defence, stated that China's military spending figures have always been disclosed in a transparent and open manner, Caliber.Az reports per Xinhua.

Describing China's military expenditure as "reasonable, moderate and restrained," Zhang said defence spending has remained under 1.5 percent of the country's GDP for years.

He contrasted this with Japan, whose defence budget has expanded steadily over the past 14 years and now stands at 2 percent of its GDP.

Zhang argued that Japan has promoted the conspiracy theory surrounding China's military spending in an effort to shift attention away from its own remilitarization agenda. He also said Tokyo should provide the international community with an explanation regarding its neo-militarist tendencies.

By Jeyhun Aghazada