As regional tensions and Russia's invasion of Ukraine fuel war worries, Japan on Friday unveiled its largest military build-up since World War Two with a $320 billion plan that will buy missiles capable of striking China and prepare it for sustained battle.
Based on existing expenditures, the expansive, five-year plan will elevate Japan to the position of third-largest military spender in the world, behind the United States and China.
The ramp-up, according to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, is "my response to the myriad security problems that we confront" and that Japan and its people are experiencing a "turning point in history."
His government is concerned that Russia's precedent-setting actions could inspire China to attack Taiwan, endanger the adjacent Japanese islands, block the flow of advanced semiconductors, and possibly close off sea routes that transport Middle Eastern oil.
"This is giving Japan a new direction. The Self-Defense Forces will be an actual, effective force of the highest caliber if properly implemented, according to Yoji Koda, a former admiral of the Maritime Self-Defense Force who oversaw the Japanese fleet in 2008.
The government also announced plans to increase transportation capacity, store spare parts and other armaments, and enhance cyberwarfare capabilities. Japan handed up the ability to wage war and the means to do so in its post-war constitution, which was written by Americans.
The strategy document stated that "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a severe violation of laws that prohibit the use of force and has shook the foundations of the world order."
The largest geopolitical challenge Japan has ever faced, it continued, was posed by China, which also noted that Beijing has not ruled out using force to annex Taiwan.
A different national security plan statement pledged tight cooperation with the US and other like-minded countries to thwart threats to the existing international order and singled out China, Russia, and North Korea.
US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel stated in a statement that "the prime minister is making a clear, unambiguous strategic statement about Japan's position as a security provider in the Indo-Pacific."
He said, "He has put a capital 'D' next to Japan's deterrence."
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen expressed her expectations for further defence collaboration with Japan when she met with Chairman of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Mitsuo Ohashi on Friday in Taipei.
The presidential office cited Tsai as stating, "We look forward to Taiwan and Japan continuing to generate new cooperative accomplishments in numerous domains, such as national defense and security, the economy, commerce, and industrial transformation.
According to a statement from its embassy in Japan, China accused Japan of making untrue assertions over China's military actions in the new security plan.
Russia lesson
Toshimichi Nagaiwa, a retired Air Self-Defence Force general, said, "The Ukraine war has shown us the necessity of being able to prolong a fight, and that is something Japan has not so far been prepared for." Japan is starting slowly; we are 200 meters behind in a 400-meter dash, he continued.
At the turn of the century, China eclipsed Japan in terms of defense spending, and today its military budget is more than four times bigger.
According to military insiders who spoke to Reuters, Japan's most pressing issues include a scarcity of bombs and spare components that renders planes unusable and disables other military apparatus.
With Kishida's plan, defense spending will more than quadruple to approximately 2% of GDP over five years, exceeding a self-imposed 1% budget cap that has been in place since 1976.
At present levels, it will raise the defense ministry's budget to around 10% of total public spending.
This spending spree would provide Japanese manufacturers of military hardware like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) jobs. MHI is anticipated to be in charge of developing three of the longer-range missiles that will be a component of Japan's new missile force.
In a collaborative collaboration between Japan, Britain, and Italy revealed last week, MHI will also construct Japan's upcoming jet fighter alongside BAE Systems PLC and Leonardo SPA.
Tokyo budgeted $5.6 billion for that in its five-year defense plan.
Additionally, foreign businesses will gain. Japan claims it wants US Raytheon Technologies Tomahawk cruise missiles to be a part of its new deterrent force.
Interceptor missiles for ballistic missile defense, attack and reconnaissance drones, satellite communications gear, Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters, helicopters, submarines, warships, and heavy-lift transport jets are among the additional items on Japan's military shopping list over the next five years.
Kishida's ruling coalition announced earlier on Friday that it will increase income taxes on tobacco, corporations, and disaster-reconstruction projects to pay for such equipment. But the Japanese leader has not yet indicated when he will put these higher rates into effect because resistance to tax increases is still strong inside his ruling Liberal Democratic party.
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