Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi questioned whether China’s official military-spending figures are factual, evidence-backed, and transparent, making public a concern long raised by U.S. and independent defense analysts about the limits of Beijing’s published budget data.
When asked in a Bloomberg interview on June 17 about China’s military spending, Koizumi said transparency was the key issue.
“We explain our strategy with high transparency. Our budgets undergo scrutiny and deliberation in the Diet,” he said, referring to Japan’s national legislature.
Koizumi said Japan provides explanations at home and abroad, and questioned whether countries outside democratic systems provide comparable scrutiny….
Japanese Defense Chief Questions China’s Military Spending Data
