Japan will mention the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait in its next annual defense report for the first time, as China's military pressure on the self-ruled island intensifies, a draft of the document showed Thursday.

"The stability of the situation surrounding Taiwan is important for the security of Japan and the stability of the international community," said the draft of the white paper, which is set to be formally brought forward at a Cabinet meeting and released in July.

Again touching on security concerns over China's military development, the defense report is set to have a new section focusing on U.S.-China relations, in which the government says "a change in the military power balance may impact regional peace and stability."