Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua said in an interview that Tokyo should not take China as an excuse for pushing approval of its new security bills, and China is concerned the bills will potentially impact its security interests after they take effect later this month.
The Japanese Liberal Democratic Party referred to China as a threat when it pushed to pass controversial new security bills last year. These bills will take effect on March 29.
Cheng stated China's "resolute opposition" to Tokyo deploying such tactics, hyping the so-called threat and using China as an excuse to get the bills passed.
"Such practices are not conducive to either mutual trust between the two countries or the region's stability," Cheng said. With the bills set to take effect, Cheng said China's concerns are "whether Japan will stay committed to the path of peaceful development" and "whether Japan's security measures will impact the security interests of neighbors, particularly China".
"We hope that Japan could draw lessons from its past, further subscribe to peaceful development and build a peaceful and stable relationship with its Asian neighbors," Cheng added.
