By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 12:37 EST, 31 July 2012 | UPDATED: 17:44 EST, 31 July 2012 China is becoming a ‘security risk’ because of the military’s growing influence on the government, the Japanese government has claimed. A power shift between generals and politicians in Beijing is a ‘matter of concern’, according to an annual defence assessment in Tokyo. It highlighted how the Chinese People’s Liberation Army had spoken out more frequently on foreign policy. Fear: There is concern across east Asia over China's growing military strength And amid mounting unrest over the lack of political and social reform, the Communist government has been forced to tighten its vice-like grip on the population – a clampdown for which it relies on the Army.
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Relations between Chinese military and political leaders 'complex'
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U.S. to send Osprey helicopter-planes to Okinawa
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Worries across the region at 'the way China is headed'
Tokyo
Just like a year ago, @placeholder also noted China's rapid military build-up, particularly that of its navy, pointing out that Beijing's defence budget has risen 30-fold in the past 24 years.
U.S.
The stakes have risen in the region as the @placeholder military has shifted its attention and resources back to Asia in the past year.
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In the white paper, Tokyo reaffirmed the importance of its alliance with the @placeholder, saying: 'The presence of U.S. forces stationed in Japan functions as deterrent against regional contingencies, and it brings the sense of security to countries in the region.'