This year's defense white paper underscores China's rapid military buildup and constant muscle-flexing in the Pacific Ocean as a shared concern of the international community.
"The situation surrounding East Asia has been rapidly changing," Satoshi Morimoto, the fourth defense minister to take office since last year's report, said Tuesday after the white paper was approved by the Cabinet.
Morimoto said Japan needs to keep in mind the significant changes in China and North Korea over the past year.