Tokyo okays aircraft carrier plans in first since WWII

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Japan on Tuesday approved plans to convert two ships into aircraft carriers, the nation's first since World War II.

The new five-year defense plan calls for the military to upgrade two existing "helicopter carriers" so that they will also be able to launch fighter jets, and is the latest in a series of steps under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to boost Japan's military.

Abe's government argues the efforts are necessary given growing defense challenges in the region, including tensions with the DPRK.

But the move is controversial, with critics arguing it moves Tokyo further away from its commitment to strictly defensive capabilities, under Japan's post-World War II pacifist constitution.

"We will secure both the quantity and quality of defense capability that is necessary... to meet the rapidly changing security environment," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

The five-year plan approved Tuesday assumes record defense spending of 27.47 trillion yen (242 billion U.S. dollars) through March 2024.

It calls for the defense ministry to upgrade two flat-top Izumo-class destroyers to enable them to launch fighters with short take-off and vertical landing capacity, like the F-35B stealth fighter.

A Marine Corps pilot prepares for a vertical landing of Lockheed Martin F-35B stealth fighter aboard the USS Wasp (LHD 1) amphibious assault carrier in the waters off Okinawa, March 23, 2018. /VCG Photo

Japan's government also announced Tuesday that it will over the next decade buy 42 such fighter jets, with the F-35B widely considered the likeliest candidate.

Local media have said the purchases could total more than one trillion yen (8.8 billion U.S. dollars).

Abe has aggressively expanded Japan's alliance with the United States. He has campaigned for years to amend Japan's pacifist constitution, arguing that it ties the hands of the country's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) even in protecting the country from attack.

"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," said a 10-year defense program outline approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government on Tuesday.

The United States, followed by China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Russia, are the countries that most influenced Japan's latest military thinking, the paper said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reviews troops of the Self-Defense Forces at Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Camp Asaka in Asaka, October 14, 2018. /VCG Photo

China has expressed "strong dissatisfaction and opposition" at this and already lodged stern representations with Japan, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing.

Hua said Japan was "singing the same old tune" and making "thoughtless remarks" about China's normal defense activities.

"What Japan is doing here is neither conducive to improving and developing China-Japan relations, nor to the broader picture of regional peace and stability," Hua said.

(Top image: A Lockheed Martin F-35B stealth fighter is seen on the USS Wasp (LHD 1) amphibious assault carrier during their operation in the waters off the island of Okinawa, Japan, March 23, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters