Recalling a “frank and fruitful discussion” with Chinese counterpart Dong Jun last year at the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus talks in Kuala Lumpur, Koizumi reiterated that Japan believes it is essential to have “persistent, candid dialogue and communication” without turning away from difficult issues. Koizumi added that the Japanese defence ministry would continue to use “every available opportunity to communicate firmly with the Chinese side”. “Please give my best regards to my counterpart Dong Jun,” he said, addressing Chinese delegates in the audience. At the summit a day earlier, Major General Meng criticised Japan’s efforts to revise its “pacifist constitution” and the three non-nuclear principles, as well as its pursuit of the deployment of allied nuclear weapons on Japanese territory. “Today, some forces continue to openly glorify war crimes, promote distorted narratives of WW II history, attempt to challenge the verdicts of the Tokyo Trial, and seek to whitewash the history of aggression,” Meng said. “Some have even taken concrete steps to break through the constraints of the post-war peace framework,” he added. He …