Kishida puts military strike option on table for Japan, in ‘show of standing up to China’

Japanese leader signals ‘fundamental’ changes to defence strategy – and possibly the constitution – including the ability to attack military facilities overseas

Speech to the Diet comes amid reports that Tokyo and Washington have agreed that Japan will pay more to host US military bases and personnel from 2022

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida passes a Japan Ground Self-Defence Force Type 19 155 mm wheeled self-propelled howitzer at Camp Asaka in Tokyo. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 5:20pm, 6 Dec 2021

Japan will strengthen its national defences in the face of growing regional threats, including through the possible acquisition of the ability to attack military facilities in other countries, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a policy speech to the Japanese parliament on Monday afternoon.

Laying out his priorities at the outset of an extraordinary session of the Diet, Kishida promised to revise the key components of national security, laid out in the National Security Strategy, the National Defence Programme Guidelines and the Medium-term Defence Programme, within the next 12 months.

The prime minister also used his address to suggest that parliament had “a responsibility to seriously consider” whether the constitution should also be revised, with changes to the most fundamental elements of national law potentially giving Tokyo more leeway in the deployment of its armed forces.

Perceived as a dove when he served as foreign minister under former prime minister Shinzo Abe, Kishida has nonetheless adopted many of his former boss’s hardline positions on defence and security, analysts say, with Japan’s spending on its military also rising. In late November, the cabinet earmarked 773.8 billion yen (US$6.7 billion) for defence outlays under the 2021 supplementary budget.

The extra spending lifted Japan’s total defence budget above 6 trillion yen for the first time and set an annual record for a seventh consecutive year. Significantly, it also took defence spending above the threshold of 1 per cent of GDP, while Kishida has indicated that he is planning to increase that to 2 per cent of GDP.

Japanese, Indian and Australian ships take part in a joint exercise. Photo: Handout

“In order to safeguard the people’s lives and livelihoods, we will examine all the options, including the capability to attack enemy bases … and fundamentally strengthen our defence posture with a sense of speed,” Kishida said.

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