China concerned about Japan’s new helicopter carrier

TOKYO — China said yesterday that Asian neighbours must be alert to Japan’s defence build-up after it unveiled a vessel capable of carrying 14 helicopters, the largest Japanese military ship produced since World War II.

“Japan should reflect on its history, adhere to self-defence and respect its promise to follow the road of peaceful development,” China’s Defence Ministry said in a faxed statement, referring to the pacifist Constitution Japan adopted after losing the war.

Tuesday’s unveiling of the 19,500-tonne Izumo reflects Tokyo’s push to bolster its maritime forces as it faces off with Beijing over East China Sea islands that both claim.

China’s state-owned Global Times said in a commentary yesterday that the Izumo is a “symbol of Japan’s strong wish to return to its time as a military power”. Japan already has two helicopter carriers.

In its statement, China’s Defence Ministry urged Japan to stick to self-defence. China’s projected 2013 defence budget is the equivalent of US$121 billion (S$153 billion), more than twice Japan’s budget of ¥4.68 trillion (S$60.9 billion).

The English-language China Daily said in an editorial yesterday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has adopted a “militaristic approach to building national pride”. It said the Izumo was “provocatively named after” a World War II ship involved in the invasion of China.

Meanwhile, North Korea’s official media, the Korean Central News Agency, warned yesterday that Tokyo was engaged in a militarisation programme that had crossed “the danger line”. The commentary referred to a Japan Defence Ministry paper published last month, which stressed the need to boost forces and included a call for a “comprehensive containment capability” to counter ballistic missile threats from North Korea. AGENCIES