New | Japan to boost military spending, beef up defence as China row simmers
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agrees to spend 24.7 trillion yen between next year and 2019
Japan announced on Tuesday it will buy stealth fighters, drones and submarines as part of a splurge on military hardware that will beef up defence of far-flung islands amid a simmering territorial row with China.
The cabinet of hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to spend 24.7 trillion yen (HK$1.86 trillion) between next year and 2019 in a strategic shift towards the south and west of the country – a five per cent boost to the military budget over five years.
The shopping list is part of efforts by Abe to normalise the military in Japan, which has been officially pacifist since defeat in the second world war. Its well-equipped and highly professional services are limited to a narrowly defined self-defensive role.
We hope to make further contributions to the peace and stability of the international community through proactive pacifism
It comes with the establishment of a US-style National Security Council that is expected to concentrate greater power in the hands of a smaller number of senior politicians and bureaucrats.
Fears are growing in Japan over the rising power of China, with the two countries embroiled in a dispute over the sovereignty of a group of islands in the East China Sea, and the perennial menace posed by an unpredictable North Korea.
New guidelines approved by the cabinet on Tuesday said Tokyo will introduce a “dynamic joint defence force”, intended to help air, land and sea forces work together more effectively.
Abe said the shift would allow Japan’s military to better shoulder its responsibilities on the global stage, through what he has promoted as “proactive pacifism”.
“We hope to make further contributions to the peace and stability of the international community through proactive pacifism,” he said. “This shows with transparency our country’s diplomatic and defence policies.”