China voices opposition, dissatisfaction with Japan's defense white paper

China is firmly opposed to and strongly dissatisfied with Japan's defense white paper which is full of lies, defense spokesman Wu Qian said on Tuesday.

The white paper, approved by Japanese Cabinet on Tuesday, has played up the South China Sea and East China Sea issues in a groundless manner and tried to stir up trouble behind the scene, through which Japan wants to benefit, Wu said.

The spokesman accused Japan of unilaterally changing the status quo by illegitimately "purchasing" China's Diaoyu Islands in 2012, enhancing military deployment in its southwest (China's) direction, and passing a new security bill to lift the constitutional constraints on collective self-defense.

Japan's activities are aimed at making excuses for its adjustment of military and security policy, military expansion and even amendment of constitution, which should raise concern and caution by international community, he added.

The 484-page white paper allocated several more pages to each country including China and Russia than the previous defense report. It is more than a tenth longer than last year's.

It devotes more words to China than other regional powers such as Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It called China's reclamation moves in the South China Sea a "provocation". Beijing's activities in the South China Sea are making its territorial claims a fait accompli, it said.

"China is currently carrying out reforms of the People's Liberation Army which some see as being the largest in the country's history," the report said. "Recently the reforms have taken place at a rapid pace."

The Associated Press noticed that the defense report came as Shinzo Abe's government "pushes for Japan to take on greater military roles abroad".

The report drew opposition from the Republic of Korea, which called Japanese embassy's defense official to protest. The ROK's defense ministry urged Japan to rectify its "improper territory claims" on disputed islands with ROK. The country's foreign ministry also asked Japan to "give up useless claims" and "face the truth of history".