Japan's Cabinet of Ministers has approved a so-called record “defense” budget amid escalating tensions with China. Japan's coastal attack and defense forces will be strengthened even as Beijing accuses Tokyo of promoting an “arms race in space”.
The draft defense budget for the next fiscal year, approved by the Japanese government on Friday, amounts to more than 9 trillion yen ($58 billion) – 9.4% higher than the previous budget due to expire in April, The Guardian said. The increase comes in the fourth year of Japan's five-year program to double annual arms spending to 2% of GDP.
This budget plan aims to strengthen retaliatory strike and coastal defense capabilities with surface-to-ship missiles and unmanned weapons arsenals, The Guardian further pointed out. To protect its coast, Japan will spend 100 billion yen to deploy “massive” unmanned aerial, surface and underwater vehicles for surveillance and defense under a system called “Shield” scheduled to launch in March 2028, Defense Ministry officials said.
The budget increase comes amid escalating tensions between the Chinese and Japanese governments. Beijing has consistently opposed Japan's strengthening of its defense capabilities, but the relationship became particularly strained last month when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said her country would likely be drawn into a military confrontation if China attacked Taiwan as part of Beijing's territorial reunification plan.
Takaichi's remarks sparked a backlash from Beijing, which took a number of diplomatic and economic steps in response, The Guardian recalls. Prime Minister Takaichi has refused to retract his comments and her government says they have no impact on Japan's defense policy.
Chinese government officials continue to publicly criticize Tokyo, reacting to any statements related to military issues, The Guardian said.
On Thursday, China's Ministry of National Defense said in a regular press conference that Japan's latest developments in space technology, some of which are being carried out in cooperation with the United States, are “accelerating the development of weapons of mass destruction and the militarization of space and promoting the space arms race.”
According to Japanese media, since March 2023, Tokyo has launched a number of rockets carrying cargo spacecraft and satellites serving the GPS system and gathering intelligence information.
“Since Japan's cruel militarists have launched surprise attacks in the past and the country is now pursuing a space attack policy, it is not surprising that there are growing concerns about another Pearl Harbor scenario,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said on Sunday.
Japan’s so-called postwar “peace” constitution prohibits the country from using force to resolve international disputes, but an amendment passed in 2015, when Takaichi adviser Shinzo Abe was prime minister, allowed the Land of the Rising Sun to carry out “collective self-defense” in certain situations, even when it was not directly attacked, The Guardian recalls.
Japan's current security strategy identifies China as its greatest strategic challenge and calls for a more active role in security cooperation with the United States.
China's Ministry of National Defense on Thursday also criticized the US for its continued support for Taiwan, a week after Washington approved a huge arms sale to Taipei worth more than $10 billion. Although the United States does not officially recognize Taiwan diplomatically, the United States is Taiwan's most important supporter in confronting China, and by law, the United States is committed to providing Taiwan with the means to “self-defense.”
Last week, the US Senate also passed the National Defense Authorization Act, providing up to $1 billion by 2026 for security cooperation related to Taiwan.
Zhang of China's Ministry of National Defense accused the US of “promoting Taiwan's independence” and undermining peace and stability.
China has undergone a years-long military overhaul and modernization, largely aimed at being able to control Taiwan. Beijing believes that Taiwan is a province that should be unified with the mainland.
Earlier this month, Chinese aircraft detected Japanese aircraft on their radar during an exercise near southwestern Japan, prompting an outcry from Tokyo. Radar jamming is considered one of the most threatening actions military aircraft can undertake, as it signals a potential attack by causing the target aircraft to take evasive action.
