Beijing Pushes Back On Tokyo's Diplomatic Bluebook

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has pushed back on some comments in Japan's Diplomatic Bluebook, an annual report compiled by the country's Foreign Ministry and presented to Cabinet. In the bluebook, Japan says that China presents the "biggest strategic challenge" to the rules-based international order. Chinese FM states that 'Japan smears China with [an] old narrative, hypes up so-called China threat.' Adds that 'We call on Japan to stop provocation and the creation of opposing camps.'

• Japan'sNHK reports that the bluebook calls 2022 a "turning point in history", and that the war in Ukraine was not "someone else's problem". The report "...notes that Russian and Chinese militaries continue to engage in joint activities near Japan, and at a more frequent pace than before. It stresses that Japan will closely watch the moves with grave concern from the viewpoint of national security."