MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Tokyo should not portray Beijing as a threat since the disputes between China and Japan may be resolved only through dialogue, a member of the Japanese parliament's upper house told Sputnik.
On Monday, Japanese media reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a closed-doors meeting that Japan's new security bills could allow Tokyo to side with Washington against Beijing in the South China Sea's dispute. Chinese Foreign Ministry demanded Tuesday Japan’s official explanations over these reports.
“Japan needs to build a relationship of trust with China. … Shouting from the housetops about the Chinese threat will not solve the problem,” Hamada Kazuyuki said.
After World War II, the Japanese government amended the constitution so that its military could not be used in international disputes.
However, the legislative package on national security, currently being considered in local parliament, allows Japan's self-defense forces to come to the aid of its allies when there is a threat to the country's existence, in the case of a military provocation, as well as to defend Japanese nationals abroad and secure their release from foreign captivity.
The South China dispute centers on the Spratly Islands, a group of more than 750 islands and reefs in the South China Sea, where China has been constructing artificial islands on coral reefs over the past few months.
The archipelago, holding potentially significant oil and gas reserves, is the subject of a territorial dispute between several regional countries.
