Japan's ambition for military expansion laid bare: spokesperson

BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson on Thursday said that Japan has laid bare its ambition for military expansion.

Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to a media query regarding Japan's recent announcement of the deployment of long-range missiles with "enemy base strike capabilities," which analysts said was clearly targeted at China.

Japan's reckless and dangerously accelerated push for remilitarization is spiraling out of control, Zhang said, calling the move a complete betrayal of the country's pacifist Constitution and exclusively defense-oriented principle.

The proliferation of neo-militarism in Japan has become a real menace, Zhang added.

"Should an evil tiger be unleashed from its cage, it would inevitably wreak havoc far and wide, and plunge the Japanese people into an abyss of disaster," the spokesperson said, urging the international community to stay on high alert against it.

The Chinese military will always have sufficient capability to counter threats and provocations, make aggressors pay an unbearable price, and defend China's national sovereignty, security and development interests, Zhang said.