Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ordered a sharp defense spending hike that could see his long-pacifist nation’s defense budget balloon to near the levels spent by Russia.
Kishida instructed ministers to put together a budget of about ￥43 trillion (US$315 billion) for the five-year period starting in April next year, Japanese Minister of Defense Yasukazu Hamada said on Monday.
That is up 57 percent on the ￥27 trillion initially budgeted for the current five-year period.
Photo: Reuters
The change of direction for Japan, which has retained a US-drafted pacifist constitution since its defeat in World War II, comes after the nation was shocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
China’s threats toward Taiwan and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have also lent support for Tokyo to embark on one of its largest military buildups in decades.
A poll conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun over the weekend found that 51 percent of respondents approved of a hike to more than ￥40 trillion, while 42 percent disapproved.
The money is set to be used for items such as stockpiling missiles that are capable of striking military assets in neighbors Russia, China and North Korea.
Another goal over the next 10 years would be to triple the number of military units equipped with ballistic missile interceptors in a southwestern island chain that stretches toward Taiwan, Kyodo News reported, citing a draft of a government document.
The news met with criticism from China.
“Japan has been sensationalizing regional tensions in an attempt to seek a military breakthrough,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) said at a regular news conference in Beijing yesterday. “This is highly dangerous. It cannot but put Asian neighbors and the international community on high alert about Japan’s commitment to an exclusively defensive policy and to peaceful development.”
Kishida’s increase could mean Japan leapfrogs nations such as Saudi Arabia and France to become the world’s fifth-largest defense spender and reach annual spending about level with Russia, based on data provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
However, the slump in the value of the yen against the US dollar would mean the cash might not go as far as in the past.
Ministries and ruling Liberal Democratic Party politicians have wrangled over the extent of the increase, which would place another strain on the finances of the deeply indebted and aging nation.
Kishida called for a concrete plan by the end of the year to fund the increase, including spending reforms and use of non-tax revenues as well as taxes, Hamada said.
Japanese Minister of Finance Shunichi Suzuki told reporters yesterday that adjustments would be needed to secure the necessary funds for the five-year period.
The government is set to reveal how it plans to use the funds in revised national security documents and an annual budget to be unveiled later this month.
Kishida has also ordered ministers to aim to raise total defense-related spending to 2 percent of GDP over the same five-year period. While Japan is not a member of NATO, that would meet the target set for members.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
RSS