The prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, will not attend Victory Day events in Beijing next month to mark the end of the second world war, partly in protest against China’s military build-up in regional waters, Japanese media said.
The chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said Abe had decided against attending commemorative events around 3 September – the day China marks the success of its "war of resistance against Japanese aggression" – so he could oversee the passage of controversial security legislation at home.
The upper house of Japan’s parliament is debating a series of Abe-inspired bills that would expand the role of the country’s military, including fighting overseas for the first time since the end of the war.
But the Sankei newspaper quoted official sources as saying Abe was also concerned that his presence in Beijing could be interpreted as accepting China’s increasingly aggressive activity near disputed island territories in the region.
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