China and North Korea force update in Japanese military

Ray

The Chairman
Professional
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Messages
43,132
Likes
23,834
China and North Korea force update in Japanese military

China and North Korea force update in Japanese military - News - Scotsman.com

Extracts:

Japan has unveiled a sweeping update of its national defence polices, prescribing a more flexible posture and refocusing its capabilities as it confronts China's military buildup and North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

The National Defence Programme Guideline approved by Prime Minister Naoto Kan's cabinet yesterday stopped short of easing a ban on arms exports - a move opposed by a small pacifist party whose help Kan wants to pass bills in a divided parliament - but left the door open to international joint development of weapons.

The plan will bolster Japan's south-west maritime border with China, by boosting the number of combat aircraft on the southern island of Okinawa.

The policy update is the first major revision in six years and the first under Kan's Democratic Party, which swept to power last year for the first time.

"I think we have been able to put forth a defence policy that is appropriate for the tough security environment and the new era," Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told a news conference.

But any sign Japan is further flexing its military muscle could upset Asian neighbours including China, where bitter memories of Japan's wartime aggression run deep.

The report, reflecting Japanese anxiety about its giant neighbour, pointed to China's rising military spending and active military exercises.

"These movements, coupled with the lack of transparency in its military and security matters, have become a matter of concern for the region and the international community," the government said in the report.

In Beijing, officials said Tokyo was wrong in seeing China as a threat.


The report also dubbed North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes "a present and grave destabilising factor to the security of our country and the region".

Sino-Japanese relations deteriorated sharply in September, when Japan detained a Chinese skipper whose trawler collided with Japanese patrol boats near a chain of disputed islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.


The defence guideline also urged efforts to build better two-way ties while encouraging China to act as a responsible member of international society.In a bid to boost overall Japanese defence capability despite budget constraints, the plan outlines a shift in resources from the army to the air force and navy.Japan's defence capability has traditionally been focused on the north with a large fleet of tanks, a legacy of the Cold War era, when they were deployed to respond to potential threats from the Soviet Union.


In contrast, Japan plans to raise the number of submarines to 22 from 16 by commissioning new vessels and keeping existing ones operational longer, while increasing the number of warships fitted with the Aegis ballistic missile defence system to six from four.

A study will be conducted to address whether to relax a decades-old ban on arms exports.

The self-imposed prohibition is an almost blanket ban on arms exports and the development and production of weapons with countries other than the United States, making it difficult for defence contractors to reduce costs and keep up with cutting-edge arms technologies.
It could be that Japan now realises the threat posed by muscle flexing China and the erratic North Korea.

The shift of importance from the Army to the Air Force and Navy indicates that possibly Japan was contemplating a pro active defence strategy instead of the defensive one that has been as per their policy and Constitution.
 

Predator

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2012
Messages
542
Likes
261
only matter of time before japan explores nuclear weapons as a means of detering china
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top