Chinese military spokesperson slams Japan for weaponizing, militarizing space

BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese military spokesperson on Thursday denounced Japan for accelerating the weaponization and militarization of space.

Chen Xi, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the comments in response to a media query regarding Japan's passing of an amendment to rename the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to Japan Aerospace Self-Defense Force and establish a Space Operations Wing accordingly.

In recent years, Japan has openly included space as an operational domain and revealed its ambition of a space military build-up, Chen said. He added that over the past five years, Japan's military spending in relevant fields has increased tenfold, while its operational forces have expanded more than 30-fold.

These moves have accelerated the weaponization and militarization of space and fueled a space arms race, which is more proof that neo-militarism in Japan has become a real threat, he noted.

Chen urged all peace-loving people to be on high alert regarding the dangerous moves of the Japanese side in space and resolutely contain accelerated remilitarization pushed by right-wing forces in Japan, so as to safeguard a common home for humanity.