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My Take | Japan’s ambitious rearmament plan puts China in a bind
- Tokyo’s military build-up is clearly aimed at Beijing, which is reluctant to spoil the mood as it tries to fix ties with Asian neighbours
- Unless China moderates its stance, addresses security concerns and works on its image, it will be hard to prevent regional pivot towards Japan
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Japan’s bolstered security and diplomatic posture following a historic break from its self-defence-only stance a year ago is no doubt one of the biggest changes to the Indo-Pacific landscape.
While Tokyo’s re-emergence as a military power has largely been welcomed by its neighbours, it poses many challenges for Beijing.
With the unveiling of Tokyo’s new defence strategy in December last year, which called Beijing an “unprecedented and greatest strategic challenge”, Japan has embarked on a military build-up clearly aimed at China.
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Japan is already the world’s third-biggest military spender after the United States and China. On Friday, Tokyo approved a 16 per cent increase in military spending next year to accelerate pre-emptive strike capability, including the deployment of long-range cruise missiles by early 2026 to be able to hit targets in China in the event of a Taiwan Strait conflict.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government eased its post-war ban on lethal weapons exports on Friday, signalling Japan’s embrace of US-led efforts to boost deterrence against China and its readiness to provide defence aid to like-minded nations in the region.
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