China's activities around the Senkaku Islands have been criticized as a "unilateral attempt to change the status quo that continues in a relentless and persistent manner" in a defense white paper approved by the Japanese government on Tuesday.
The Defense of Japan 2020 report also warns that China is trying to expand its influence amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, stating that Japan will "carefully monitor the situation."
"China's attempts to unilaterally change the existing order have been observed in various areas," Defense Minister Taro Kono said at a press conference after the approval of the report.
According to the white paper, a total of 1,097 Chinese government vessels were active in the contiguous zone around the Senkaku Islands for 282 days last year, record highs for both duration and ship count.
Record of an incident in May in which a Chinese government ship entered Japanese territorial waters off the Senkaku Islands for more than 26 hours before being pursued by a Japanese fishing boat is also cited in the white paper. "China's actions to escalate the situation are totally unacceptable," the report states.
Sea crossings by China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning between the main island of Okinawa and Miyako Island in June last year and April this year were examples of China "seeking to normalize its expansion into the Pacific Ocean and aiming to improve its ability to access and conduct operations in the open seas," according to an assessment in the white paper.
The report also states that the coronavirus crisis may "develop into strategic competitions among countries," citing China, in particular, for seeking to expand its influence by providing medical assistance to countries seriously impacted by the pandemic. "Amid the turmoil and social unrest [China] is engaged in various propaganda activities, including spreading false information," the white paper states.
On North Korea, the report states that the country "has been working to upgrade its missile-related technology," claiming the three types of new short-range ballistic missiles that have been launched since May last year "used solid fuel and flew at a lower altitude than usual."
North Korea "is trying to evade missile defense systems by making it difficult to identify the signs of a missile launch and early detection," according to the report.
On the status of the reclusive nation's nuclear development, the white paper states that North Korea "is believed to already possess the ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons, turn them into warheads and attack Japan with ballistic missiles."
Meanwhile, the white paper warns that China and Russia, among other countries, are "focusing on active utilization of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, high-power energy sources and quantum technology." Specific examples included autonomous drones equipped with AI, hypersonic glide vehicles that are difficult to detect and intercept and high-power laser weapons.
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