Japan plans to accelerate spending on advanced stealth fighters, long-range missiles and other equipment over the next five years to support US forces facing China’s military in the western Pacific, two new government papers said yesterday.
The plans are the clearest indication yet of Japan’s ambition to become a regional power as military buildups by China and Russia are putting pressure on its US ally.
“The United States remains the world’s most powerful nation, but national rivalries are surfacing, and we recognize the importance of the strategic competition with both China and Russia as they challenge the regional order,” a 10-year defense program outline approved by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government said.
China is deploying more ships and aircraft to patrol waters near Japan, while North Korea has yet to fulfill a pledge to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs.
Russia, which continues to probe Japanese air defenses, on Monday said it had built new barracks for troops on a northern island it captured from Japan at the end of World War II.
Japan plans to buy 45 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters, worth about US$4 billion, in addition to the 42 jets already on order, according to a separate five-year procurement plan approved yesterday.
The new planes are to include 18 short takeoff and vertical landing B variants of the F-35 that planners want to deploy on Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea.
The navy’s two large helicopter carriers, the Izumo and Kaga, are to be modified for F-35B operations, the paper said.
Japan plans to spend ¥25.5 trillion (US$224.7 billion) on military equipment over the next five years, 6.4 percent higher than the previous five-year plan.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
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