TOKYO: Japan’s defense ministry is seeking an annual budget increase that will add to past hikes to expand military spending over a decade by almost a sixth, as it looks to counter the growing strength of neighboring China.
Since last year, Japan has identified China as its main national security threat, pointing in a July policy paper to a “sense of crisis” over Beijing’s threat to Taiwan, which lies close to Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea.
The ministry’s budget proposal, released on Tuesday, seeks an increase of 2.6 percent in spending, to a record 5.48 trillion yen ($49.93 billion), for the year starting April 1.
Finance ministry officials will review, and could amend, the request before sending it to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s cabinet for approval.
However, Japan’s defense spending increases are not enough to keep pace with China’s expanding military budget, which will increase 6.8 percent next year and is already about four times more than Japan’s, and second only to the United States in size.
Instead, Tokyo’s strategy is to build a force armed with the latest equipment to deter Beijing from military action to settle territorial or other disputes in the region.
Big-ticket spending requests include 130 billion yen for 12 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 stealth fighters, four of which will be short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) B variants operating off converted helicopter carriers.
The defense ministry is asking for 105 billion yen next year to develop its first new domestic jet fighter in three decades. The project, expected to be completed in the 2030s, at a cost of about $40 billion, is being led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries .
Japan’s forces, which defend its islands alongside US units, also want money for new compact warships and funds to buy and develop longer-range missiles to strike distant enemy targets, including land bases.
The ministry is also seeking funds for space-related forces, such as satellites and lasers to track targets beyond the atmosphere. It also wants 34.5 billion yen to strengthen defenses against cyberattacks. ($1=109.7500 yen)
Japan’s defense ministry seeks fresh hike in military spending
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Japan’s defense ministry seeks fresh hike in military spending
- The ministry’s budget proposal, released on Tuesday, seeks an increase of 2.6 percent in spending
Russian drone attack forces power cuts in Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih, military says
- Kyiv says the campaign has forced rolling outages and emergency cuts to cities across the country, as repair crews work under fire and Ukraine relies on air defenses and electricity imports to stabilize the grid
KYIV: Russian drones struck infrastructure in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday, forcing emergency power blackouts for more than 45,000 customers and disrupting heat supplies, military administration head Oleksandr Vilkul said.
“Please fill up on water and charge your devices, if you have the chance. It’s going to be difficult,” Vilkul said on the Telegram messaging app.
Water utility pumping stations switched to generators and water remained in the system, but there could be pressure problems.
The full scale of the attack was not immediately known. There was no comment from Russia about the strike.
Russia has repeatedly struck Ukraine’s power plants, substations and transmission lines with missiles and drones, seeking to knock out electricity and heating and hinder industry during the nearly four-year war.
Kyiv says the campaign has forced rolling outages and emergency cuts to cities across the country, as repair crews work under fire and Ukraine relies on air defenses and electricity imports to stabilize the grid.
Kryvyi Rih, a steel-and-mining hub in the Dnipropetrovsk region and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, has been hit repeatedly, with strikes killing civilians and damaging homes and industry.
The city sits close enough to southern front lines to be within strike range, while its factories, logistics links and workforce make it economically important and a key rear-area center supporting Ukraine’s war effort.
