Photo: Bloomberg
Tokyo, 16 December 2022 (GNP): Japan is going to increase its defense budget. Japan has seen six decades of no-war policy and is now ready to counter an unprecedented and great strategic challenge posed to it by the Chinese rising military power.
The new national security released last Friday depicts that Japan is now no more a passive watcher of international relations and wants to play an active role in regional security in collaboration with the US and its allies for a peaceful and open Indo-Pacific.
Japan concerns deeply with its national security after the Ukraine-Russia war.
This is the reason why Japan is diversifying its defense ties with other allies beyond the USA.
The development of a new proposed Jet Fighter by 2035 speeding at 5 Mach is one such project to be undertaken by the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan collectively.
Fearful of a look-alike of Ukraine invasion by Moscow, Tokyo fears that Beijing’s stance on Taiwan in the future may ignite a conflict endangering its very own national security.
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This move by Japan could annoy China and is also a very drastic departure from Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which condemns war as a tool for dispute settlement.
Since 1960, Japan has imposed a self-restriction on its defense spending by allocating only 1 percent of its GDP to the Japanese forces.
Now Tokyo grids up for raising this military spending to 2 percent of its total GDP as suggested by NATO for member states.
The ¥43 trillion, roughly equivalent to $313 billion, would be spent in the coming five years by Japan to strengthen its armed forces.
Among other developments and changes in the Japanese defense forces, a cyber security team having 20,000 cyber-soldiers within it would be created to protect the cyber assets of Japan in case of any cyber attack by the enemy.
Moreover, Japan also plans to develop a defense mechanism outside of its national assistance and aid program in the south-east Asian countries to bolster its defense via them.
