China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday asked for heightened vigilance of Japan's latest attempt to increase its defense budget, saying that changes to Japan's military and security policy are closely watched by its neighbors and the international community.
According to reports, Japan's Ministry of Defense had made a record budget request for the fiscal year 2018. If approved, it would be the sixth annual increase since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe retook office in 2012.
Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces tanks and armoured vehicles advance during an annual live-fire exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 24, 2017. /AFP Photo
Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces tanks and armoured vehicles advance during an annual live-fire exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 24, 2017. /AFP Photo
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that in recent years, Japan had made persistently misleading statements over the so-called "China threat," while increasing its own defense budget and introducing new security laws.
"The Japanese side should clarify its intentions to the international community," Hua said.
"We hope the Japanese side will pay attention to its neighbors' security concerns and be cautious in military and security fields," she added.
Japanese Defense Ministry's budget request, up by 2.5 percent from this year's initial budget, totaled 5.26 trillion yen (47.8 billion US dollars) for the fiscal year starting from April 2018.
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force troops descends from helicopters during an annual live-fire exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 24, 2017. /AFP Photo
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force troops descends from helicopters during an annual live-fire exercise at the Higashi-Fuji firing range in Gotemba, at the foot of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka prefecture on August 24, 2017. /AFP Photo
Part of the money would be used to introduce a new missile shield system, possibly the land-based Aegis Ashore, but the amount was unspecified as it still needs to be hammered out with the US, said the ministry.
Japan has so far taken steps to counter any potential launches of ballistic missiles by deploying high-tech Aegis advanced radar-equipped destroyers which are tasked with stopping missiles in the outer atmosphere, and ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors which will counter the attack at lower altitudes.
A PAC-3 surface-to-air missile launch system is seen in position from behind a fence at Japan's Defence Ministry in Tokyo on August 29, 2017. /AFP Photo
A PAC-3 surface-to-air missile launch system is seen in position from behind a fence at Japan's Defence Ministry in Tokyo on August 29, 2017. /AFP Photo
It also requests 55.2 billion yen for the maintenance of facilities for Self-Defense Forces units stationed on the southwestern islands of Okinawa, and 10 billion yen for developing technologies to create high-speed glide bombs for operations to "retake invaded remote islands."
The ministry is also eyeing allocating 11 billion yen for a research funding program called National Security Technology Research Promotion, the same amount as fiscal 2017, but surging 37 times compared to the 300 million yen in fiscal 2015 when the program was set up.
The program has been widely opposed by Japanese scholars and researchers for fear of government intervention of research and further deviation from Japan's pacifist Constitution which specifies that Japan renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation and will not maintain land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential.
Japan's new Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera (top C) delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo on August 4, 2017. /AFP Photo
Japan's new Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera (top C) delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo on August 4, 2017. /AFP Photo
The budget request was also put forward amid public concerns over Japan's precarious fiscal condition under the current sluggish economy and with consumption tax hike delayed for multiple times.
The Japanese government is burdened with arrears that stand as the highest in the industrialized world, amounting to more than twice the size of Japan's economy.
The budget requests of various ministries will be screened and trimmed by the financial ministry and a state budget for fiscal 2018 will be compiled by the end of this year.
Source(s): Xinhua News Agency