Japan says faces increasing threats from China, North Korea

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan faces increasingly serious threats to its security from an assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea, the defence ministry said in its first annual report since hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office.

The report was harshly critical of China's actions in waters near East China Sea islets claimed by both countries, and prompted a sharp response from Beijing, where a foreign ministry spokeswoman said Japan was exaggerating the threat to "artificially create regional tension and confrontation."