---
title: "“Pacifist” Japan Unveils Unprecedented Military Build Up"
type: "post"
post_id: "3577"
slug: "pacifist-japan-unveils-unprecedented-military-build-up"
canonical: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2022/12/17/pacifist-japan-unveils-unprecedented-military-build-up/"
markdown_url: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2022/12/17/pacifist-japan-unveils-unprecedented-military-build-up.md"
json_url: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2022/12/17/pacifist-japan-unveils-unprecedented-military-build-up.json"
txt_url: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2022/12/17/pacifist-japan-unveils-unprecedented-military-build-up.txt"
published: "2022-12-17T13:58:19+00:00"
modified: "2022-12-17T13:58:19+00:00"
author: "penny2"
categories:
  - "Uncategorized"
tags:
  - "China"
  - "Japan"
  - "Russia"
  - "US"
site_name: "PFYT2"
publisher: ""
language: "en-US"
generator: "easyPress Markdown"
generator_version: "1.0.6"
---
**Because a planet, allegedly adversely affected by “human caused” global warming teetering on the brink of extinction number whatever, can never have enough war and environmental destruction? Am I right?**

[Al jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/16/pacifist-japan-unveils-unprecedented-320bn-military-build-up)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Japan has said it would begin a once-unthinkable $320bn military build-up that would **arm it with missiles capable of striking China** and ready it for a sustained conflict as regional tensions and Russia’s Ukraine invasion stoke war fears.
> 
> Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government worries that [Russia has set a precedent](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/15/ukraines-military-says-russia-is-preparing-for-prolonged-war) that will encourage China to attack Taiwan, threatening nearby Japanese islands, disrupting supplies of advanced semiconductors, and putting a potential stranglehold on sea lanes that supply Middle East oil.
> 
> In its **sweeping five-year plan a**nd revamped national security strategy, the government said on Friday it would also stockpile spare parts and other munitions, reinforce logistics, develop cyber-warfare capabilities, and **cooperate more closely with the United States and other like-minded nations to `deter threats to the established international order.`**

Third-biggest military spender
------------------------------

> Unthinkable under past administrations, **the rapid arming of Japan, which already hosts US forces, including a carrier strike group and a Marine expeditionary force**, has the backing of most voters, according to opinion polls. Some surveys put support as high as 70 percent of voters.
> 
> **Kishida’s plan will double defence outlays to about 2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) over the next five years, and increase the defence ministry’s share to about one-tenth of all public spending.**
> 
> It will also make Japan the world’s third-biggest military spender after the US and China, based on current budgets.
> 
> The five-year spending roadmap did not come with a detailed plan for how Kishida’s administration would pay for it, as ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers continue to discuss whether to raise taxes or borrow money.

‘Exclusively defence oriented’
------------------------------

> **The money will fund projects including the acquisition of what Japan calls “counterstrike capacity” – the ability to hit launch sites that threaten the country.**
> 
> **The documents warn that Japan’s current missile interception systems are no longer sufficient and a “counterstrike capacity is necessary”.**
> 
> **Still, in a nod to the sensitivity of the issue, the documents rule out preemptive strikes, and insist Japan is committed to “an exclusively defence-oriented policy”.**
> 
> **Its language on relations with both China and Russia has hardened significantly.**
> 
> The strategy document previously said Japan was seeking a “mutually beneficial strategic partnership” with Beijing, a phrase that has disappeared from this iteration.