Japan Challenges China's Defense Spending as Tokyo Finally Hits Back | Taiwan Talks EP864

Japan is undergoing a historic shift. It is abandoning previous decades of low key diplomacy and deflection and instead pushing back against China’s military narrative more forcefully than at any point in recent years, arguing that Beijing’s lack of transparency — not Tokyo’s defense buildup — is the real threat to regional stability. As Japan raises defense spending, expands security partnerships and eases restrictions on arms exports, China has accused it of reviving militarism. But Japanese officials counter that their policies are openly debated and publicly scrutinized, while China’s true military spending and strategic intentions remain opaque. Is Beijing’s criticism of Japan designed to shift attention away from its own unprecedented military expansion? In this episode, we examine China’s propaganda war, the debate over military transparency and what it means for security across the Indo-Pacific.

*Recorded on June 25, 2026 at 4:30pm Taiwan Standard Time

Host/Senior Producer: Yin Khvat
Producer: Miguel Yang
Research Assistant: Ryan Pham

Our guests:

Lai I-chung
- Prospect Foundation President
James Fanell
- Retired US Navy Captain
Liou To-hai
- National Chengchi University College of International Affairs Adjunct Distinguished Professor

Chapters:
00:00:00 – Japan Stands Up to China
00:02:30 – China’s Military Spending Outpaces Japan’s
00:13:03 – Tokyo Pushed Back on Beijing’s Propaganda
00:19:52 – Beijing’s Lack of Transparency




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