Japan’s Defense Minister Taro Kono raised doubts about the accuracy of the defense budget data released by the Chinese Communist Party in an interview on Wednesday, June 17th. He questioned whether the figures were truly based on facts, supported by evidence, and highly transparent, suggesting that this move was seen as Tokyo’s firm response to Beijing’s accusations of Japan promoting “new militarism.”
In his first interview with foreign media since taking office as defense minister, Taro Kono contrasted Japan’s and China’s approaches to transparency in military spending. He pointed out that Japan’s budget undergoes scrutiny and review in parliament, with the government openly explaining investments in new combat capabilities such as drones, artificial intelligence (AI), adapting to modern warfare changes.
However, academics and Western governments generally believe that China’s disclosed defense expenditure figures do not cover all of its spending, making it difficult to directly compare with data disclosed by other countries.
A Pentagon assessment released in December 2025 indicated that China’s actual defense expenditure in 2024 was 32% to 63% higher than the $231 billion budget announced by Beijing. This includes items like armed police, provincial security spending, military research and related capital expenditures.
Recently, China has repeatedly demanded that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi withdraw her insinuations last year about Japan potentially intervening in a Taiwan conflict.
Some analysts believe that Taro Kono’s public questioning indicates Tokyo’s more assertive response to pressure from China as Beijing continues to pressure Sanae Takaichi.
In addition, Taro Kono has repeatedly rebuffed Beijing’s accusations of Japan implementing “new militarism.”
During the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore on May 31st, he responded to Beijing’s accusations by stating that a country with a vast nuclear arsenal and strategic bombers accusing Japan, which lacks nuclear weapons and strategic bombers, of militarism is clearly not realistic.
In his final remarks at the dialogue, Taro Kono emphasized that what truly concerns the international community is China and its “enormous arsenal.”