Japan Launches Biggest Military Build-up Since WWII

By Staff, Agencies

Japan unveiled on Friday its biggest military build-up since World War Two in a strategy that named China “the biggest strategic challenge” in efforts toward peace, safety, and stability.

The five-year, $320 billion will see the purchase of missiles capable of striking China, readying Japan for sustained conflict and making it the world’s third-biggest military spender after Washington and Beijing. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the ramp-up was “my answer to the various security challenges that we face, describing the country as being at a “turning point in history.”

Tokyo is concerned that Russia set a precedent with its military operation in Ukraine that will encourage China to attack Taiwan, threatening nearby Japanese islands, disrupting semiconductor supplies, and putting a stranglehold on sea lanes that supply oil from the Middle East.

"This is setting a new heading for Japan. If appropriately executed, the Self-Defense Forces will be a real, world-class effective force," said Yoji Koda, a former Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force admiral.