Etsuro Honda, a key economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, denied Thursday stressing that one of the main goals of "Abenomics" is for Japan to build up a more powerful military and stand up to China, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga quoted Honda during a daily news conference as denying the report published Tuesday on the financial newspaper's website.
Suga quoted Honda as saying: "I was surprised to read the article. It's true I was interviewed, but what I meant to say was erroneously reported. I never made a remark to the effect that a goal of Abenomics was military in nature."