China's state-run media has slammed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's choice of right-leaning nationalist Tomomi Inada as the country's new defense minister.

China Central Television said on Wednesday the appointment showed "how Japan's security policy is swinging all the more to the right," urging heightened vigilance amid the trend.

The CCTV report called Inada a "typical right-wing politician," noting her repeated visits to the contentious Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo and her calls to amend Japan's pacifist Constitution and boost the nation's military strength.