Japan's ambition for military expansion has been laid bare, a Chinese defense spokesman said on Thursday.

Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in an online news briefing in response to the Japanese Minister of Defense, who recently announced the deployment of long-range missiles with "enemy base strike capabilities". Some analysts believe this deployment is targeted at China.

Zhang criticized Japan's reckless and dangerously accelerated push for remilitarization, stating that it is spiraling out of control. He noted that the move is a complete betrayal of its pacifist Constitution and exclusively defense-oriented principle, laying bare its ambition for military expansion.

"The proliferation of neo-militarism in Japan has become a real menace. Should an evil tiger be unleashed from its cage, it would inevitably wreak havoc far and wide, plunging the Japanese people into an abyss of disaster," Zhang said, stressing that the international community should stay on high alert against it.

"It must be underlined that as evil will never outgrow virtue, the Chinese military will always have sufficient capability to counter threats and provocations, make aggressors pay an unbearable price, and defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests," he warned.