Editorial | Yoshihide Suga has to explain record defence budget

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe set his country on a dangerous course with an offensive military policy towards China and North Korea. His successor, Yoshihide Suga, should have reviewed the legacy and swept aside efforts to undermine the pacifist constitution.

Instead, his government yesterday approved another record defence budget, the ninth consecutive annual rise in spending. The measures envisaged are likely to spur a regional arms race, sending a message to Beijing that it has an aggressive neighbour.

The US$51.7 billion spending plan scheduled for April is 1.1 per cent more than for the current year. Abe’s nationalist agenda aimed to enable Japan to have a first-strike capability through introducing weapons systems that have the potential to erode laws grounded in the principle of limiting the country’s military capacity to strictly defensive purposes.

A revamp of the air force and navy has been taking place, with purchases from the United States of stealth fighters and early warning aircraft, the fitting of long-range cruise missiles and conversion of destroyers to what amounts to default aircraft carriers.

The proposed budget, all but certain to be adopted given Suga’s large majority, would include development of the first new jet fighter in decades, a long-range anti-ship missile, warships that can carry fewer sailors and two vessels with powerful Aegis radar systems.

Japan has long relied on its ally, the US, for protection, but the erratic policies of outgoing President Donald Trump’s administration has prompted a reassessment of policies. While incoming leader Joe Biden is likely to restore alliances, there is no certainty given domestic constraints that existing overseas military bases will be fortified. Irked by China’s naval and air force build-up, Tokyo has been seeking closer military ties with India, Southeast Asian countries and Australia.