TOKYO, Dec. 16 (Portal) – Japan on Friday unveiled its biggest military buildup since World War II with a $320 billion plan that will buy missiles capable of hitting China and prepare it for ongoing conflict, as regional tensions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine increase fears of war.
The sweeping five-year plan, once unthinkable in pacifist Japan, will make the country the world’s third-biggest military spender, after the United States and China, based on current budgets.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who described Japan and its people as “at a turning point in history,” said the ramp-up was “my response to the various security challenges we face.”
His administration fears Russia has set a precedent that will encourage China to attack Taiwan, threaten nearby Japanese islands, cut off supplies of advanced semiconductors and potentially put a stranglehold on the sea lanes that supply Middle East oil gain weight.
“This shows Japan in a new direction. If executed properly, the Self-Defense Forces will be a true, effective, world-class force,” said Yoji Koda, a former admiral in the Maritime Self-Defense Forces who commanded the Japanese fleet in 2008.
The government said it will also stockpile spare parts and other ammunition, expand transport capacity and develop cyberwarfare capabilities. In its American-written post-war constitution, Japan gave up the right and means of war.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a gross violation of laws prohibiting the use of force and has shaken the foundations of the international order,” the strategy paper said.
“The strategic challenge posed by China is the greatest Japan has ever faced,” it added, also noting that Beijing has not ruled out using force to seize Taiwan.
A separate national security strategy document, which pointed to China, Russia and North Korea, pledged to work closely with the United States and other like-minded nations to ward off threats to the established international order.
“The Prime Minister is making a clear, unambiguous strategic statement about Japan’s role as a security provider in the Indo-Pacific,” US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “He put a capital “D” next to Japan’s deterrent,” he added.
Meeting with Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi in Taipei on Friday, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said she expects stronger defense cooperation with Japan.
“We look forward to Taiwan and Japan continuing to create new achievements of cooperation in various fields such as national defense and security, economy, trade and industrial transformation,” Tsai said.
According to a statement from its embassy in Japan, China accused Japan of making false claims about China’s military activities in the new security strategy.
UKRAINE LESSON
“The war in Ukraine has shown us the importance of keeping a fight going, and Japan hasn’t been prepared for that,” said Toshimichi Nagaiwa, a retired Air Self-Defense Force general. “Japan starts late, it’s like we’re 200 meters behind in a 400m sprint,” he added.
By the turn of the century, China’s defense spending overtook Japan’s and now has a military budget more than four times that. Low ammunition and a shortage of spare parts that ground planes and disable other military equipment are the most immediate problems Japan needs to address, military sources told Portal.
Kishida’s plan will double defense spending to about 2% of GDP over five years, breaking a self-imposed 1% spending limit that’s been in place since 1976.
It will increase the Defense Department’s budget to about one-tenth of all public spending at current levels, making Japan the third-largest military spender in the world, after the United States and China, based on current budgets.
That waste will provide jobs for Japanese military equipment makers like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) (7011.T), which are expected to lead the development of three of the long-range missiles that will be part of Japan’s new missile force.
MHI will also partner with BAE Systems PLC (BAES.L) and Leonardo SPA (LDOF.MI) to build Japan’s next jet fighter in a joint Japan-UK-Italy project announced last week.
Tokyo has provided $ 5.6 billion for this in the five-year defense program.
Foreign companies also benefit. Japan says it wants ship-launched US Tomahawk cruise missiles from Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) to become part of its new deterrent force.
Other items on Japan’s military shopping list for the next five years include anti-ballistic missile interceptors, attack and reconnaissance drones, satellite communications equipment, Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters, helicopters, submarines, warships and heavy transport aircraft.
To pay for this equipment, Kishida’s ruling bloc said earlier Friday that it would increase tobacco, corporate and income taxes for post-disaster reconstruction. But with opposition to tax hikes still strong within his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Japanese leader has yet to say when he will introduce those higher rates.
Reporting by Tim Kelly, Sakura Murakami and Nobuhiro Kubo in TOKYO; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in TAIPEI and Eduardo Baptista in SHANGHAI; Editing by David Dolan, Gerry Doyle, Jon Boyle, William Maclean
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