Japan’s Ministry of Defense is seeking a fourth straight annual military budget hike to help fortify the nation’s far-flung island chain in the East China Sea, close to ocean territory claimed by Beijing.
In a document submitted to the government yesterday, the ministry asked for a 2.2 percent increase in military spending to ¥5.09 trillion (US$42.38 billion) for the year starting in April.
If approved, the new defense budget would be Japan’s biggest in 14 years.
MILITARY BUDGET
China’s military budget for this year rose 10.1 percent to 886.9 billion yuan (US$138.37 billion), the second largest in the world after the US.
Japan’s Defense Ministry is to buy AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles made by BAE Systems, F-35 Stealth warplanes made by Lockheed Martin Corp and Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft from Boeing Co under the budget plan, the document said.
Other purchases would include Global Hawk drones made by Northrop Grumman Corp, mobile missile batteries, helicopters and other kit the military wants to defend island-dotted ocean territory stretching 1,400km from the Japanese mainland almost to Taiwan.
EXTENDING BASES
Money would also be allocated to building and extending military bases along the island chain, the document added.
As China’s military power grows, Japan is shifting from defending its northern borders from a diminished Russian threat with tanks and heavy armor to deploying a lighter, more mobile force in the East China Sea and the Western Pacific.
By bolstering its military presence on islands with radar stations, troop bases or missile batteries, Japan could gain a tactical advantage over China, which with far fewer islands under its control in the region would have to rely more on naval vessels or ocean platforms.
Japan and China contest ownership of the uninhabited Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in the East China Sea, which Japan refers to as the Senkaku Islands. Taiwan also states a claim to the island chain.
RADAR STATION
Only 150km south of the outcrops, Japan is building a military radar station on Yonaguni Island, home to 1,500 people.
In the budget request, defense officials have allocated US$90 million to expand an army base on Miyakojima, 300km east of Yonaguni, and US$72 million for base construction on Amami Oshima, an island halfway between the main island of Okinawa, home to the largest contingent of US marines in Asia, and the Japanese mainland.
The Osprey troop carrying aircraft, amphibious assault vehicles and new maneuverable armored fighting vehicles on Tokyo’s shopping list are wanted to bolster a force including Japan’s first detachment of marines since World War II.
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