RELATIONS between Tokyo and Beijing worsened yesterday when the recently appointed Japanese Foreign Minister condemned the secrecy surrounding China’s rising military spending.

The remarks by Taro Aso, who expressed concern at a news conference that China was “a neighbour with one billion people, has nuclear weapons, and has been expanding its military spending by double digits for 17 consecutive years”, were denounced as “highly irresponsible” by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Mr Aso, who has strong nationalist views, referred to the “perception that China is becoming a major threat”, and said that Beijing’s lack of transparency “fans the anxiety”. But political analysts said that his comments marked an important departure from Japan’s official line, which has always stopped short of publicly describing China as a military threat.

Beijing responded with outrage. Qin Gang, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: “It is highly irresponsible for the Japanese Foreign Minister to make these remarks. We can’t help but ask his real purpose for expressing such a groundless sentiment.”

The row coincided with the publication by Beijing of a government White Paper which stressed that China had chosen the path of peaceful development. “China’s development will never pose a threat to anyone; instead it can bring more development opportunities and bigger markets for the rest of the world,” it said.

Yue Xiaoyong, of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said: “This is not just a slogan. This is a strategic choice.”

It also emerged yesterday that Beijing has punished a senior general who said in July that China could use military force in the event of a US attack over Taiwan.

Major-General Zhu Chenghu received an “administrative demerit” from the National Defence University that bars him from promotion for a year and effectively ends his career. Aware of the nervousness its rapid economic development is engendering among its neighbours, China has for more than two years engaged in a propaganda offensive to emphasise its “peaceful rise”.

But its relations with Japan have deteriorated steadily in recent months. China remains furious with Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese Prime Minister, over his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honours the nation’s war dead.

Tokyo remains angry about the violent anti-Japanese riots that swept several large Chinese cities earlier this year. The Chinese military build-up has worried Tokyo for many years, but has become more prominent on the political agenda because of the rapid rate of Chinese economic growth.

Exacerbating the problem is the secrecy surrounding Chinese spending. Mr Aso’s nationalist stance puts him to the right of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party. Since his appointment three months ago it has been assumed in political circles that he would quickly air his views on the Chinese issue.

Tokyo shares regional concerns that China will one day seek to recover Taiwan, by force if necessary, and was alarmed at the prospect — now receding — of the European Union lifting its arms embargo on China.

Yesterday’s incident may cast a pall over Japan-China talks on United Nations reforms due to take place in Beijing on Monday.

Japan has stepped up a decade-old drive to gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council but has faced opposition from Asian neighbours, including China.

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