Japan defence ministry seeks US$50 billion budget hike amid China concerns

China’s assertive actions in the region, and its growing tensions with Taiwan and rivalry with the US, were noted in Japan’s defence report in July

Japan has been stepping up defence in the country’s southwestern regions, including near the Diaoyu Islands claimed by China

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A China coastguard ship sails near the Diaoyu Islands on August 30, 2021. Photo: Japan Coast Guard/EPA-EFE

Published: 8:30pm, 31 Aug 2021

Japan’s defence ministry on Tuesday asked for a 2.6 per cent increase over this year’s record budget as it seeks to further strengthen the country’s military in the face of China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

The ministry’s budget sought 5.48 trillion yen (US$49.86 billion) for the year starting April 1, 2022, in what could be a record high if approved by the finance ministry and parliament later this year, after a nine-year consecutive increase.

Japan’s concerns about China’s increasingly assertive military actions in the region, as well as Beijing’s growing tension with Taiwan and rivalry with the United States, were specifically noted in this year’s defence report adopted in July.

The report said China’s increased military capability and the lack of clarity regarding Chinese military spending is “a matter of grave concern” and criticised China’s maritime activity in and around Japanese-claimed waters.

Japan has been stepping up defence in the country’s southwestern regions and islands, including Ishigaki Island, where a new military base with a land-to-sea missile defence system will be opened. Ishigaki is north of the uninhabited but Japanese-controlled Diaoyu Islands, which are also claimed by China.

Japan’s military spending and capabilities have grown continuously since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December 2012, rising by 17 per cent over the past nine years. Abe’s government allowed Japan’s self-defence force to play a greater international role by adopting a new interpretation in 2015 of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the constitution.

A Chinese maritime surveillance vessel passes near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea in July 2013. Photo: Kyodo