March 7 (Bloomberg) -- China's military spending is growing at an ``abnormal'' pace and threatens Japan, said Shoichi Nakagawa, policy chief for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

``It's a direct, military threat,'' Nakagawa said at a speech in Tokyo. Chinese military spending ``has grown abnormally since the 1990s.''

China on March 4 said it will raise its 2007 defense spending by 17.8 percent to 350 billion yuan ($45 billion), the biggest increase in five years. Japan's military budget in the fiscal year starting April 1 is 4.86 trillion ($41.8 billion)

``China's announcement only covers ordinary military spending, not nuclear weapons development, or testing, research, or arms imports,'' Nakagawa said. ``According to European and U.S. analysts, spending is actually two or three times that.'' Nakagawa also said China's explanations for an anti-satellite missile test in January were ``ambiguous and unclear.''

Nakagawa also said China must explanation its testing of a missile on a weather satellite. China destroyed the obsolete satellite on Jan. 11, prompting concern from the U.S., U.K., Japan and Australia. China told the U.S. that the test wasn't meant as a threat.

``Their words say they are peaceful, but what was defensive about that?'' Nakagawa said. ``Since the announcement, any explanation has been insufficient, ambiguous and unclear.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Keiichi Yamamura in Tokyo at kyamamura@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 7, 2007 01:58 EST