ZHANG: JAPAN IS A THREAT TO REGIONAL SECURITY

BEIJING, OCTOBER 29 /SRNA/ – Japan poses a threat to regional security over initiating military exercises with countries from outside the region, developed and deployed medium- and long-range missiles, and increased its military presence on its southwestern islands, Chinese Ministry of Defence spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said.

Zhang was commenting to the media on a recent large-scale the USA - Japan joint exercise focused on island-seizure operations, during which U.S. forces were deployed on a Japanese island near Taiwan. He said that the Asia-Pacific region is a region of peace and development, adding that those who insist on promoting bloc confrontation do not enjoy public support, Xinhua reported. "The Taiwan issue is exclusively an internal matter of China. We will never allow external forces to interfere in this issue," Zhang stressed. He warned that anyone attempting to use Taiwan to contain China or engaging in excessive military provocations would pay a high price.