Japan Rebuts China at Shangri-La, Warns on PLA Buildup

Regional outlets focus on how the Japan–China dispute over militarism and arms buildup affects neighbours in East and Southeast Asia. They note that Kihara’s speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue puts China’s military growth under the spotlight while also raising questions about Japan’s new capabilities. Commentators in this block stress that countries around the South and East China Seas worry both about China’s expansion and about an arms race between Asia’s major powers.

• •Regional reports say Kihara used the Shangri-La Dialogue to criticise China’s rapid military expansion.
• •Neighbouring countries are described as watching Japan’s acquisition of longer-range missiles and new defence plans with mixed feelings.
• •Some regional voices welcome Japan’s stronger role as a counterweight to China’s military presence.
• •Others fear that sharper Japan–China rivalry could draw smaller states into great-power disputes in the East and South China Seas.
• •Regional coverage links the Japan–China security clash to wider debates over freedom of navigation and airspace in contested waters.