China urged the Japanese government Thursday to stick to the path of peaceful development, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet approved Japan's largest defense budget.
"We hope that the Japanese side would take history as a mirror, stick to the path of peaceful development, and make constructive efforts toward regional peace and stability," Hong Lei, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, told a press briefing on Thursday.
"Due to historical reasons, Japan's policy moves on military and security matters have been closely watched by its Asian neighbors and the international community," Hong said.
The cabinet approved 5.05 trillion yen ($41.8 billion) in defense spending for the next fiscal year starting in April to better protect a string of southern islands that stretch from Japan's mainland to waters near Taiwan, AFP reported on Thursday.
The allocation is part of a record 96.7 trillion yen national budget that will now be sent to parliament for debate and approval early next year.
The defense budget increase apparently targets China since Japan has always considered China a threat and is deeply concerned over China's rise, Lian Dehuai, deputy director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times.
The defense budget is 1.5 percent higher than this year's budget, which was the previous record, and marks the fourth straight annual increase in defense spending.
"Although it is only 1.5 percent higher than the 2015 budget, it has risen considerably over the years. The increase is progressive," Lian said.
The trend reflects a hawkish Abe's attempt to build a military - more active and collaborative with its biggest ally, the US - with an eye on a possible escalation of tensions with China, AFP reported.
In September, Abe pushed contentious security bills into law, a move that could see Japanese troops fight abroad for the first time in 70 years.
Abe is pushing to tweak Japan's pacifist constitution, a move that has proved deeply unpopular at home and sparked mass protests outside parliament.
