Japan will increase military spending this year for the first time in more than a decade, the ruling party said on Tuesday, as Tokyo summoned the Chinese ambassador over a simmering territorial row.
The newly-elected Liberal Democratic Party’s national defence task force has decided to boost the defence budget request by more than 100 billion yen (US$1.15 billion) in response to an emboldened Beijing, a party official told reporters.
The relatively small amount is likely symbolic, but it reflects anxiety over what Japan sees as an increasingly hostile region, where China is seen as throwing its weight around.
“We have decided that the additional budget will be used for research into a new radar system as well as fuel and other maintenance costs for early-warning aircraft,” the official said.
The news came as the foreign ministry called in China’s ambassador to protest over the latest dispatch of official vessels into waters around the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.
The summoning was the first under nationalistic Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and reflects the tough line he pushed on China on the campaign trail in December.