Why is Japan increasing its money and arsenal?

 Japan — (AP) This week, Japan adopted a new national security plan that includes a commitment to having the ability to "counterstrike" to prevent enemy attacks as well as doubling spending to take a more offensive stance and strengthen its resilience in the face of rising risks from China, North Korea, and Russia. Since the end of World War II, Japan has only practised self-defense, but the new plan represents a historic shift. Here is a look at how Japan's new security and defence policies will alter its defensive posture.

CAPABILITY FOR COUNTERSTRIKE

The National Security Strategy has undergone the most alteration as a result of Japan's "indispensable" "counterstrike capabilities." Within ten years, Japan wants to be able "to disrupt and destroy attacks against its nation considerably early and at a wider distance."

This ends the 1956 government policy that ignored the capacity to attack enemy targets and only acknowledged the concept as a last-ditch constitutional defence.

The current interceptor-based missile defence system used by Japan, according to the country, is insufficient since missile attacks against it have turned into "a real menace." China fired ballistic missiles into waters close to southern Japanese islands, and North Korea launched more than 30 missiles this year alone, one of which overflew Japan.

Japan claims that the employment of counterstrike capabilities in the event of an impending enemy assault is constitutional, but experts claim it is very challenging to carry out such an attack without running the risk of being held responsible for striking first. Opponents claim that the pacifist constitution of Japan prohibits strikes that go beyond self-defense.

The left-leaning Asahi newspaper declared that "(Japan's) exclusive self-defense policy is gutted."

The left-leaning Asahi newspaper declared that "(Japan's) exclusive self-defense policy is gutted."

DEFENSE SPENDING IS DOUBLED

Through 2027, Japan wants to quadruple its defence spending to 43 trillion yen ($320 billion), or approximately 2% of its GDP. After the United States and China, Japan's annual budget will eventually reach approximately 10 trillion yen ($73 billion), which is the new spending target that adheres to NATO standards.

Kishida estimated that his administration would require an additional 4 trillion yen ($30 billion) a year, and he suggested tax increases to cover a portion of that cost. The five-year defence building plan had to be issued without full funding plans as the ruling party continued to discuss how to cover the shortfall after his appeal for a tax increase flopped.

LARGE-SCALE MISILES

Japan will invest nearly 5 trillion yen ($37 billion) over the next five years in long-range missiles, with deployment set to start in 2026. Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industry will upgrade and mass-produce a Type-12 surface-to-ship guided missile, while Japan will buy Tomahawk and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles developed in the United States. Defense officials in Japan stated that the terms of the Tomahawk purchase are still being worked out.

For prospective cooperation with the F-X next-generation fighter jet that Japan is building with Britain and Italy for deployment in 2035, Japan will also develop various forms of arsenals, such as hypersonic weapons and unmanned and multi-role vehicles.

At many secret locations, standoff missile systems are in operation.

CYBERSECURITY

In order to deliver long-range cruise missiles at designated targets, analysts say Japan will have to significantly rely on the United States because it has adequate cybersecurity and intelligence capabilities.

According to the five-year defence programme also agreed on Friday, "Self-Military Force superiority or Japan-U.S. interoperability without cybersecurity is difficult to achieve." This acknowledges the necessity of ensuring cybersecurity at the SDF and Japanese defence industry.

This is a positive development for the United States because, in the words of Christopher Johnstone, senior advisor and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "weak cybersecurity by the Japanese government has been a critical impediment to deeper alliance cooperation and expanded information-sharing."

Over the next five years, Japan will spend 8 trillion yen ($58 billion) on cross-domain defence, including cybersecurity and space.

The "greatest strategic challenge" is China.

The change of Japan's strategy has been motivated by concern about what has been dubbed "the severest and most intricate" regional security environment in the postwar era.

According to the policy, China poses "an unparalleled and the largest strategic challenge" to the peace and security of Japan and the rest of the world due to its rapid arms buildup, assertive military activities, and competition with the United States.

The initiative to strengthen Japan's deterrent during the next five years was accelerated by concerns of a Taiwan emergency provoked by Russia's assault on Ukraine. Despite North Korea's continued advancements in nuclear and missile technology, China remains Japan's principal threat, for which Japan has had to prepare "by using North Korea's threat as a cover," according to former admiral of the Japanese navy Tomohisa Takei.

STILL ONLY SELF-DEFENSE AT THIS POINT?

Japan's postwar policy placed the economy over security by relying on American forces stationed in Japan under their bilateral security pact, in a division of responsibilities known as "shield and dagger," because of its history as an aggressor during WWII and the destruction following its defeat.

The possibility of even closer military cooperation with the U.S. military under the new policy has raised worries that Japan will assume a greater offensive role.

Japan claims it will uphold its pacifist concept of strict standards for the development of new weapons systems and technologies. But in order to support the nation's defence equipment industry, some softening is planned to permit heretofore prohibited exports of offensive machinery and parts, including those for the F-X fighter jet's next generation.