;)
EIJING: China's military Tuesday expressed
concerns that Japan's recent sinking of a suspected North Korean spy ship
reflected Tokyo's growing ambition to become a global military
power.
An editorial on the website of the leading
People's
Liberation Army Daily said Japan and the United States would seek to
expand Japan's military might despite the long-standing legal restraints
of Japan's "peace Constitution."
The December 22 sinking of the
suspected spy ship outside of Japan's territorial waters and within
China's exclusive economic zone was "a precedent for Japan in the
post-(World War II) period," it said.
"In order to realise the
dream of becoming a regional military power and to increase and expand the
space for its self-defence forces into the high seas, Japan could well
continue to create similar incidents in the future," it said.
Asian
nations were already expressing concerns of Japan's growing military
might, especially its acquisition of high-tech destroyers and transport
ships that smacked of an effort "to project military power."
"Japan
will cast off its Constitution and related legal shackles ... and while
relying on the Japan-US military alliance, seek to realise its goal of
becoming a big political power," it said.
Following the incident,
China's foreign ministry formally expressed concern over Japan's use of
military force in the waters of the East China Sea, and expressed sorrow
at the deaths of up to 15 crew members.
Beijing also made further
inquiries with the Japanese government over the incident, and urged Tokyo
to maintain frequent consultations on new developments.
Tokyo is
considering whether it can salvage the boat now lying at a depth of some
100 metres (330 feet) on a continental shelf without offending
Beijing.
The ship has so far not been conclusively identified as
North Korean, although the Japanese coastguard has retrieved the bodies of
two Asian men with Korean character writing on them, including a tag on a
lifejacket.
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