BEIJING, August 7. /TASS/. The Japanese Self-Defense Forces’ maneuvers involving Tomahawk missiles in the Pacific Ocean require coordinated countermeasures from the international community, said Chen Xi, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense.

"The international community must unite and take measures to jointly prevent Japan’s ‘new militarism’ from gaining strength and becoming a source of disaster and chaos throughout the world," he said on the Ministry of Defense’s WeChat page, commenting on the missile launches.

According to Chen Xi, Beijing is paying close attention to an "increasingly noticeable and extremely dangerous" trend linked to Japan’s accelerated development of offensive weapons. According to him, in such a situation, countries in the Asia-Pacific region "must exercise heightened vigilance."

"The facts have already proven that the so-called regional security threats cited by Japan are nothing more than a pretext to circumvent the provisions of its pacifist constitution and the principle of exclusively defensive actions, as well as to accelerate the process of remilitarization," the spokesperson emphasized.

He specifically noted that "it is precisely the reckless actions within Japan aimed at building up its military capabilities" that pose a real threat to Japan’s security, as well as to peace and stability in the region. "The nightmare must not be repeated, we must protect peace," Chen Xi added.

Earlier, Japan’s Ministry of Defense reported that the country’s Self-Defense Forces had conducted their first live-fire exercises using US-made Tomahawk missiles. The exercises took place in the Pacific Ocean with the support of the US Navy.