"Chinese Ministry of Defence's spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang slammed Japan's 'relentless' plans to boost its military, after Tokyo approved a historic security defence worth over 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) on Friday. “In recent years, Japan has relentlessly pursued remilitarisation and accelerated its military buildup, with an increasingly visible and dangerous tendency towards a militarist revival,” Zhang said. “To cover up its underlying ambitions, Japan has repeatedly used China as a pretext […] right-wing forces in Japan have thrown away their hypocritical mask and are openly advocating for nuclear armament,” he added. Zhang’s comments came after a senior security adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi argued that Japan should consider acquiring nuclear weapons, calling them a 'necessary deterrent' against perceived threats from China, Russia and North Korea. The Chinese spokesperson urged what he called 'peace-loving nations' to oppose Japan’s defence trajectory, accusing Tokyo of challenging the post-World War II international order and abandoning its longstanding non-nuclear commitments. Zhang also stressed that China’s own military spending remains 'reasonable and moderate', and called on Japan to withdraw what he described as 'false narratives' and 'provocations' aimed at Beijing. Japan’s draft 2026 defence budget, approved on Friday, exceeds 9 trillion yen (around $58 billion), representing a 9.4 per cent increase on 2025. It marks the fourth year of Tokyo’s plan to double defence spending to two per cent of GDP, making it the world’s third-largest military budget after the United States and China. The remarks have further strained already tense China–Japan relations, following comments in November by Prime Minister Takaichi suggesting Japan could take military action if China were to attack Taiwan."