Japanese MP says Japan could become Chinese province http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,2022552,00.html
· 'Hegemony' warning raises tension with Beijing · Comment follows US concern over China
Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Jonathan Watts in Beijing Tuesday February 27, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
[Happier times: The Chinese foreign minister, Li Zhaoxing (r), is welcomed by his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, at talks in Tokyo last month. Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AP]
A senior official in Japan's ruling party has warned that his country could become "just another Chinese province" within the next 20 years if Beijing's military development continues at its current rapid rate. In a speech in Nagoya, Shoichi Nakagawa, the chairman of the Liberal Democratic party's policy research council, claimed Beijing was "seeking hegemony" in Taiwan and beyond, local media reported. "If something goes wrong in Taiwan in the next 15 years we [Japan] might also become just another Chinese province within 20 years or so," he was quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency.
He later told reporters in Tokyo: "If Taiwan is placed under its complete influence, Japan could be next. That's how much China is seeking hegemony."
Mr Nakagawa's comment received a frosty response in Beijing, where the government has long played down fears that China's rapid rise poses a threat to other nations.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said: "China has long borders on land and sea, so it is very natural to maintain a certain amount of defence power, completely for the purpose of maintaining the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gives no cause for criticism."
The US and Japan have raised questions about the military build-up of the world's most populous nation. In recent years China's declared defence budget has increased at double digit pace, exceeding even the spectacular growth of the economy. Last year, Beijing's reported 2006 budget was $35bn, compared to $42bn for Japan.
According to western analysts, however, the real figure is considerably higher because the People's Liberation Army, which numbers 2.3 million personnel, conceals much of its spending.
Mr Nakagawa's comments are likely to worsen the relationship between Asia's two biggest powers, which had recently shown signs of a slight thaw after years of tension.
Mr Qin raised suspicions about the timing and nature of the outburst. "China's military expenditure per capita is 7% of that of Japan," he said. "Meanwhile, it claims that China is a threat. We should question: What is the real purpose and motivation behind these claims?"
It is the second time in less than a week that the Chinese foreign ministry has had to rebut accusations about Beijing's intentions.
Last week, the US vice president, Dick Cheney, said China's increase in military spending and its recent test firing of an anti-satellite missile were inconsistent with its claim of being a peacefully rising power. Mr Qin repeated China's stance that it advocates the peaceful use of space and opposes arms races there.
But Mr Nakagawa said the launch of the anti-satellite missile was a deliberate challenge to Japan, which successfully launched a spy satellite at the weekend. "China showed that it could destroy a satellite if it launches from the ground, just like that," he said. "It wouldn't be strange to think that it was an experiment conducted with Japan's satellite launch in sight."
His comments come at a crucial time for Sino-Japanese relations. After years of tension under Japan's previous leader, Junichiro Koizumi, relations between the two appeared to have thawed when his successor, Shinzo Abe, visited Beijing last October. The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, is due to visit Japan in April in what would be the first visit by a Chinese leader since 2000.
Mr Nakagawa is not the first Japanese official to voice concern over China's military build-up, but his dramatic scenario was met with consternation in Tokyo.
"We are rather more confident than he is about China," a government official told the Guardian on condition of anonymity. "Japan will never be part of China. While China is not a strategic partner, it is true that we share increasingly common strategic interests such as economic development, environmental concerns and maintaining peace and stability in the region."
Mr Abe, who appointed Mr Nakagawa when he took office last autumn, said it was "meaningless to dwell on just a few words taken out from a full speech". In the past it was often said that Japan might become the 51st state of the United States, he told reporters.
But, he added, China had yet to explain the intention behind its missile test. "We have been asking China to provide an explanation that is acceptable to the international community."
Mr Nakagawa, a famously loquacious, staunchly nationalist MP, shares Mr Abe's tough line against North Korea. He was one of several Liberal Democratic politicians who called on Japan to debate the merits of developing a nuclear arsenal after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test last October.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007