Representatives from China's military will visit Japan this month as agreed by both countries, to enhance mutual "understanding and trust", the Chinese defense ministry said on Monday.
A delegation from the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will meet with leaders of the Japanese Ministry of Defense and the Joint Staff of the Self-Defense Forces, the Chinese ministry said.
The visit is also aimed at promoting defense exchanges between China and Japan, it said.
The PLA Eastern Theater Command oversees security primarily in the East China Sea, East China and the Taiwan Strait.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
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P_C
Understand the words in the sentence, but don't understand how this would actually work in the current real world. Please help me out old wise JT readers.
Tamarama
First, you need to separate yourself from the prevailing meta narrative that China are somehow the evil empire hell bent on world domination. Forget that.
China has been THE and cultural heavyweight in Asia for several thousand years and THE central socio-political pillar of Asia. Nobody knows Asia and the geo-political realities of this part of the world better than they, despite hegemonic external forces trying to insist otherwise.
China and Japan should work towards better ties and understanding - this is regionally responsible by them both. But they certainly have forces trying their level best to keep them apart, that's for sure.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Just make sure they know how to answer hotlines. It's a big problem with the Chinese.
TaiwanIsNotChina
We don't live in might makes right anymore. China needs to be taught to negotiate as an equal only.
Peter Neil
it’s called intelligence gathering.
Fos
The big US industrial military complex will try to obstruct the ongoing process, and guide the manipulative narrative against China, but hopefully Japan will realize that a peaceful coexistence with Beijing is possible and the US warmongering is not the only solution.
Asia welcomes China because China is part of Asia, that would be the starting point of any conversation.
kurisupisu
TaiwanIsNotChina
Sources of the US bullying countries in actuality or nonsense (Trump fantasies don't count).
TaiwanIsNotChina
Asia fears China, that would be the starting point of any conversation.
OssanAmerica
Yes, first you need to deny reality. You must believe that China is not at odds with multiple nations over territory in the South China Sea, which they have militarized despite having claimed they wouldn't. You must also accept that China will never take military action against Taiwan, although they refuse to denounce the use of force and continue to threaten the democratic defacto nation. And China is not carrying out an economic war of cyberattacks and IP theft of western businesses. We could go on and on, but that's all just prevailing narrative. As the CCP is fond of saying, you must correct your thinking.
Fos
OssanAmerica
Absolutely, we could go on and on.
The U.S. controls about 800 military bases in more than 90 countries worldwide, as opposed to 3 or 4 of China globally. And yet the US military-industrial complex narrative wants us to believe it’s China and Russia that seek world domination and are the biggest threat to world peace, not the United States.
As a fact the US is trying to advance its "Indo-Pacific" strategy to contain China, fanning the flames in the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan Straits and South China Sea.
The only military risk that we face from China is if we continue as a proxy for the US in its endless wars, as opposed to dialogue and diplomacy.
And we are here to remind the world just that!
antibotter
@Tamarama
You mean the china that willingly unleashed covid on the world, killing millions, causing trillions in loss, buying up properties in other countries when the local businesses were at their lowest, harvest organs from live political prisoners, cheats, lies and is generally the biggest bully on the planet tied with ruzzia, is not evil?
Glad we are on the same page.
BigP
The word “Trust” is not often heard with regards to China.
rocketpig
China should help Japan re-militarise
deanzaZZR
Projection much? Have you even visited Asia? Studied an Asian language? Earned a degree in a field related to Asia?
Majority of ASEAN people favor China over U.S., survey finds
TSUBASA SURUGA, Nikkei staff writer
April 2, 2024 12:00 JST
Updated on April 2, 2024 13:09 JST
Singapore -- Over half of Southeast Asians would now prefer to align with China over the U.S. if ASEAN were forced to choose between the rival superpowers, a regional survey by Singapore-based think tank showed Tuesday, reflecting Beijing's growing influence in the region.
Burgerland
"We don't live in might makes right anymore. needs to be taught to negotiate as an equal only."
Perhaps pass that gem of wisdom onto your Washington Democrat bosses first.
Fos
deanzaZZR
Right on. You can only laugh at the desperate attempts of the US Department (see antibotter) to discredit China’s role in Asia, without a shred of evidence, copying and pasting manipulative narratives coming from the US military industrial complex
Burgerland
"You mean the china that willingly unleashed covid on the world, killing millions...."
Sounds like quite an evil conspiracy...any reliable sources to prove this?
deanzaZZR
Well said. I hope to see it come to pass in my lifetime.
Ken
I wouldn't trust a country that would order it's military to run over their own people with tanks and then censor it happening and mute their people as well as the anniversary of that date they restrict all their social media to eliminate any form of "silent peaceful protesting"
BertieWooster
China and Japan need to talk. And this means both listening to the other. That is rationality. The US approach is to use force. They give out orders. They don't listen and they enforce their orders with sanctions.
Cephus
"Chinese military delegation to visit Japan."
The Chinese men are currently the only military who haven't defiled themselves with the woke progressive craziness. Keep it up Sir Xi
Fos
Ken
I would not trust a country, United States of America, who provides hundreds of billions of dollars in lethal weapons (exclusively Made in America) to countries in different continents, including Asia (Taiwan, Singapore, South Korean, Japan), promoting warmongering (officially deterrence) as opposed to dialogue and diplomacy. We have seen the solutions in Middle East and Ukraine
Wasabi
After trump threat to Panama, Canada and GreenLand it maybe time for Japan to find better friends. Japan must keep his options open.
Ken
So you don't like the idea of countries in Asia being able to defend themselves when there are threats like China, North Korea and Russia just doing whatever the hell they want? Ukraine is trying to protect their land and their people. And the Middle East is the Middle East more than half Americans don't support Israel's actions. The highest ranking people can't hold them accountable for their war crimes
Peter14
The starting point is, your statement is a blatant lie. Move on from that to the truth, that China is hostile and wants control over the region and all in it. China is building the worlds largest military to do exactly that.
Moving into the territory of other nations and claiming it for China, building a new Imperium ruled by the Chinese Communist party. Weight of numbers in foreign waters forces smaller, weaker nations to eventually cede their territory. It is happening through the South China sea, and in the East China sea.
China is NOT WELCOMED, China is an unwanted pest in Asia, that should be the starting point of any conversation.
Peter14
Oh please. China sells cheap weapons to anyone who can pay, all around the world (exclusively made in China) While Russia also sells weapons around the globe to all and sundry (exclusively made in Russia), promoting wars, civil conflicts and warmongering.
And we see the solutions in the South China sea, Philippines and Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Ken
The Americans with a good moral compass don't like Trump, we tried to prevent this from happening because we weren't joking when we said he's bad news and will play the blame game and cause wars. It's not just America's problem it is everyone's problem. And on the same note I think China won't be satisfied until all of Asia is China because we all know what happened to Hong Kong which was it's own country
geronimo2006
China's massive military buildup can't be trusted nor misunderstood. The message from their side is crystal clear. We plan to dominate this region, and don't get in our way.
isabelle
But the PRC hasn't. Its particular brand of totalitarian oppression has only been around since 1949.
Of course, you can go back into Chinese history before 1949, but then you will encounter the inconvenient truth that the still-existing ROC predates it.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/07/asia/taiwan-china-motherland-history-hnk-intl/index.html
Yes, they "should." But sadly, this will not be possible at least until Xi dies or is perhaps removed in a palace coup.
Yes, Xi and the CCP. They continue to do more than anyone to ruin relations with Japan and everyone else in the region.
The only party using force around here is China.
Neither the US, nor anyone else, is ramming and water-cannoning ships, illegally building and militarizing islands, cutting internet cables, threatening to annex peaceful countries, etc.
deanzaZZR
@geronimo2006 That is an interesting take. Below is a table of military spending by major powers in the region.
Spending % of GDP
Russia 6.3%
United States 3.4%
South Korea 2.8%
India 2.4%
China 1.8%
Japan 1.2%
Wikipedia, 2023 numbers
isabelle
This line again? You do love your copy-paste, don't you?
Then, I'll return the favor yet again:
...
What utterly ridiculous logic.
Does Asia welcome North Korea because it is in Asia? Did China welcome Imperial Japan because it was in Asia? Laughable.
TaiwanIsNotChina
No one knows what China really spends because everything is deceit with that country.
Fos
Ken
That’s a nice line Ken!
It reminds me of the the statements of US department: “The president has made clear Israel has a right to defend its citizens, consistent with international law and international humanitarian law”.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the US accounted for 69% of Israel's imports of major conventional arms between 2019 and 2023.
With the outbreak of war in Gaza, the arms revenues of the three companies based in Israel in the Top 100 reached $13.6 billion. This was the highest figure ever recorded by Israeli companies in the SIPRI Top 100.
https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2024/worlds-top-arms-producers-see-revenues-rise-back-wars-and-regional-tensions#:~:text=South%20Korean%20and%20Japanese%20companies,'
The truth is the West makes a big deal of the fact that it is morally virtuous but to me it looks like hypocrisy in the extreme.
Fos
isabelle
Just to put into contest these random dispatches from the US State Department, inciting anti-China sentiments by any means, and give some historical hindsight:
Reality check: United States of America military spending in 2023 was over $900 billions, 3 times as much as China, based on the statistics from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
The U.S. controls around 800 military bases in more than 90 countries worldwide, as opposed to 3 or 4 of China globally. And yet the US military-industrial complex narrative wants us to believe it’s China and Russia that seek world domination and are the biggest threat to world peace, not the United States
China has not been engaged in military activity for the past forty years. In that time, the US has overthrown numerous governments and illegally invaded many countries.
Of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (who represent the great powers), only one has not fought a war in 40 years: China. In contrast to China, in the last three decades, America has fought a war or been involved in military actions every year.
For four decades China has rose to economic significance in relative peace, unlike United States of America. China is the model the world needs to study and replicate.
Fos
CPowell
Perhaps no one wants to release that information because that would be admitting that we are just telling people lies to preserve the interest of the big US industrial military complex. Don't we?
If you don't like the neutral Sipri index why don't you check the Statista research:
Quick recap for you: (in billion U.S. dollars)
United Sates of America 916
China 296
Russia 109
https://www.statista.com/statistics/262742/countries-with-the-highest-military-spending/
As we all know the US State department disinformation has a track record of promoting manipulative narratives
TokyoLiving
Excellent..
China and Japan need each other..
Nice and good relationships between both..
US, stay out of this..
TaiwanIsNotChina
I like all of your numbers because they prove my point: the US is not spending that much when it has to reach across the world to throw China and russia back.
TaiwanIsNotChina
No, we don't need to replicate wage slavery and fascism.
Fos
CPowell
Or perhaps we should take the example of US, and the civilized and moral handling of the Middle East? How the US administration is allowing Israel to continue the mass killing. That would be a case study to follow in Asia based on American standards. No thanks Colin
Peter14
Lack of personal freedoms being top of CCP list. Do as your all knowing CCP government official tells you. Do not question it, do not think for yourself and above all do not oppose our rule. Replicate that around the world? You must be kidding.
Never in a million years!
Fos
Peter14
We will never allow in a million years in Asia the warmongering of Unites States of America. We have seen it in Middle East and Ukraine and there is no space for that
Peter14
FOS
As usual your well off target. Israel is responsible for its own response to Hamas attack, and Russia alone is responsible for its invasion of Ukraine. Attempting to shift blame or focus to the US is to ignore the truth for your own ends.
Fos
Peter14
That is a pretty laughable answer, and you know it very well that that terrible conflict would end the first 24 hours the US administration stops shipping lethal weapons to Israel. Over $30 billions (officially) since January 2024. But, as we know, there is too much at stake for the US lobbies in Wall Street.
So you are saying that is the example we should follow as oppose to China.
Inciting anti-Beijing sentiments by any means and the manipulative narrative of the US State department on behalf of the big industrial military complex will not bring dialogue and trade, diplomacy amongst neighbors and economic growth in Asia.
We have demonstrated time and time again that United States of America historically is the most aggressive country by far, and the only military risk that we face from China is if we continue as a proxy for the US in its endless wars
China is determined that it must have the military capability to defend its homeland. However, it does not project its military power around the globe as does the US.
For four decades China has rose to economic significance in relative peace, unlike United States of America. China is the model the world needs to study and replicate.