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"Chinese military expert Senior Colonel Zhou Bo criticised Japan's recent security shifts as potentially 'dangerous' on Sunday as Asia's major defence summit, the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2026, reached its final day in Singapore. "Japan is making a dangerous move. Japan certainly is no longer what it was. But as to who can stop that, that is a question. I think only Japanese people can stop that because whenever this kind of thing happens, you would always see a lot of protests in the streets," he stated. It comes as the Chinese and Japanese delegations exchanged sharp accusations of bolstering defence capabilities and military activity on the summit stage. In response to the warning of 'Japan's neo-militarism' from the Chinese side, Japanese Defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi raised concerns over Beijing's 'huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers'. Expert Zhou rebuffed the Defence Minister's claim, stressing that current Chinese defence spending remains at 1.5 percent which is 'significantly lower' than two percent of NATO countries. While Japan does not belong to the NATO alliance, the nation is formally committed to meeting NATO spending standards. Meanwhile, former top security official Nobukatsu Kanehara defended Tokyo's shift toward strengthening military power under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration. He emphasised that despite its peaceful aspirations, Japan shouldn't 'depend upon the only goodwill of friendly nations'. "Our military forces are not very big one. It's medium size," he stated. "We don't have nuclear weapons. And our neighbours are big ones, Russia and China. And North Korea is not having nuclear weapons. So we have to do something more, and we are paying our dues, and it is necessary." However, Kanehara highlighted that Tokyo maintains its commitment to the stance of proactive pacifism: "The 80 years of pacifist diplomacy of Japan do not change. We don't coerce anybody. We don't compel anybody." Widely recognised as Asia’s premier defence and security summit, this year's IISS Shangri-La Dialogue comes at a critical geopolitical juncture, bringing together government figures, military chiefs and security experts to discuss a range of security issues in the Indo-Pacific. The summit takes place in Singapore on May 29–31."
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