Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, announced a new goal for military spending on Monday of $318 billion for the following five years.
As the nation attempts to build up its defenses, including the use of preemptive attacks, the military budget is 1.5 times higher than it is currently and reaches the same level as Russia.
Japan Revises National Security Strategy
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada claimed that Kishida instructed him and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki to develop a budget plan that would increase Japan’s military spending from 27.5 trillion yen to almost 50% between 2023 and 2027.
Japan’s change of course occurs in the face of numerous dangers, including North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, China’s threats toward Taiwan, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The purpose of the projected increase, according to Hamada, is to firmly secure the prerequisites to pursue major reinforcement of Japan’s defense.
The revised national security strategy and medium- to long-term defense plans being finalized by Kishida’s administration would permit the use of preemptive attacks in a significant departure from Japan’s postwar self-defense-only tenet.
The pacifist constitution of Japan, according to critics, may be violated by preemptive strikes. An enemy attack is only to be used in the event of a strike-back capability, as per the government.
The budget and the three important documents are anticipated in late December. Over the past ten years, Japan’s military spending and engagement in international defense have gradually increased.
As concerns about North Korea and China’s territorial aggressiveness grow, it plans to double its military spending in the next five to ten years to reach around 2% of GDP, citing a NATO guideline.
After the United States and China, Japan would be the third-largest military spender in the world if Kishida’s ruling party succeeds in doubling the country’s yearly defense expenditure to $70 billion.
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Japan’s Military Spending Sparks Concerns
Over 50% of respondents to a poll by the Yomiuri daily approved of a raise to more than 40 trillion yen, while only 42% disapproved.
In a report released last month, a government-commissioned panel of experts stated that Japan needs to urgently strengthen its deterrence, including by adding cruise missiles, interceptors, and other equipment while also enhancing commercial ports and airports for potential military use in an emergency.
Financing the expense of the rise is difficult for a nation with an elderly and shrinking population already contending with a bloated national debt.
For many of its neighbors, notably the two Koreas, who were the targets of Japanese aggression in the first half of the 20th century, plans for Japan’s military building and spending growth are also a delicate matter.
Meanwhile, China has expanded its claims to almost the whole South China Sea by building man-made islands with airfields and military facilities.
Beijing also asserts control over several Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea and has upped military pressure on Taiwan, which it maintains is an integral part of China and will be occupied by force if necessary.
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