Japan Labels China an “Unprecedented Challenge” in Policy Shift

SINGAPORE — Japan’s new national security policy has labeled China as an “unprecedented strategic challenge,” replacing a direction that emphasized possible cooperation, a Bloomberg source said.

The new strategy highlights plans for Japan to procure longer-range missiles, including building its own hypersonic weapons, as part of a major overhaul of its defense capabilities.

Such a radical shift in defense policy was prompted by the Ukraine-Russia crisis, tensions over Taiwan that entailed Chinese missiles landing in waters near Japanese islands, as well as an increasingly provocative North Korea.

“Japan was trying not to antagonize China in the past,” said Professor Rumi Aoyama of Waseda University in Tokyo. “Now the language is catching up with reality.” Japan has also become more vocal about its interest in protecting Taiwan.