MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Japan has embarked on an unprecedented buildup of its own military power, including the acquisition of strike capability. This was said in a commentary circulated Thursday by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in connection with Tokyo's adoption of its updated security and defense doctrines.

"We pointed out Japan approving the updated text of three doctrinal documents on December 16 - the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the Defense Build-Up Plan. Their content clearly shows that official Tokyo took the path of unprecedentedly boosting its own military might, particularly acquiring strike capabilities," she emphasized.

According to the diplomat, this demonstrates the Kishida administration’s open rejection of the country’s peaceful development which has been steadfastly declared by the previous generations of politicians and a return "to the path of unrestrained militarization which would inevitably provoke new security challenges and lead to increased tensions in the Asia-Pacific region."

"We see the same understanding in neighboring countries’ sharp reaction to the current turn in Japan’s military doctrine," she added.

The spokeswoman reiterated that Russia had been cautioning for a while about the danger of Tokyo’s demonstrative evasion of recognizing the outcome of the Second World War which serves as the foundation of the modern world order. "Now, along with the recent refusal, at the UN General Assembly, to condemn the hate-filled ideology of the Nazi regime which was the main ally of militarist Japan in that war, consistent steps are being made to revive [Japan’s] military potential enabling it to deliver strikes on neighboring countries," the diplomat pointed out.

According to Zakharova, it is symptomatic that the decision on a significant - up to 2% of GDP - increase in defense spending was made under the conditions of a hardly stellar state of the national economy and mounting structural disproportions in the state budget. "This yet again underscores that in implementing its military ambitions, the administration of Fumio Kishida is ready to go far beyond the plans proclaimed at the current stage, directly joining the US’ geopolitical games," she concluded.