MOD discusses defense white papers on Japan visit

A press delegation from China's Ministry of National Defense (MOD) led by its spokesperson Geng Yansheng visited Japan's Ministry of Defense on Tuesday and Wednesday and the two sides exchanged opinions on their respective defense white papers and publicity work, the MOD announced on Thursday.Experts said the move put the 2014 four-point agreement between China and Japan in which they pledged dialogues on a variety of topics - including defense - into practice but that the two sides need to make further efforts to reduce mutual suspicion. The two sides reached a consensus that such exchanges can enhance mutual understanding during the two-day talks. The MOD delegation said it hoped that the Chinese military could be presented more objectively in Japan's defense white papers and urged the Japanese side to stop playing up the Chinese military threat." The communication mechanism between the publicity departments of the two defense ministries was established in 2010, but was suspended in 2012 after Japan unilaterally "nationalized" the Diaoyu Islands. "The exchange is part of the dialogues stressed in the four-point agreement reached during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November 2014," said Lü Yaodong, director of the Department of Japanese Diplomacy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The two sides will gradually resume political, diplomatic and security dialogues and build mutual political trust, said the 2014 agreement. The Chinese side proposed the meeting to introduce its white paper, Japan's Kyodo News reported. "The voluntary offer demonstrated China's sincerity to remove misunderstandings about its military strategy," Lü said. The Japanese side expressed its hope that China could make its deployment of equipment and troops "more transparent," Kyodo reported. "Japan's concerns [about China's military power] cannot be dismissed via such exchanges as military matters are by no means fully transparent,"said a Beijing-based expert who requested anonymity.