LDP proposes defence budget increase
TOKYO Japan's Liberal Democratic Party yesterday asked the Defence Ministry to consider doubling its budget to an amount on par with 2 per cent or more of the country's gross domestic product, while also proposing it adopt counterstrike abilities due to the region's increasingly complex and severe security environment.
A set of proposals finalised by the ruling party last week will serve as a basis for the government to update the National Security Strategy, possibly by the end of the year. The LDP submitted the proposals to Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi ahead of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Russia's military operation in Ukraine continues so "... In a situation that can be said to be the greatest (current) crisis for the international community, we must drastically strengthen Japan's defence capabilities", Kishi said.
The LDP'S push to allow Japan to fire upon and disable enemy missiles before launch from foreign territory and target command centers remains controversial given the country has long held an exclusively self-defence-oriented security policy position under its war-renouncing Constitution.
The first revision of the long-term security guideline, which was originally approved by the Cabinet in late 2013, will come amid China's growing military assertiveness in the region, possibly emboldened by Russia's action in Ukraine, and North Korea's increasing missile and nuclear threat.
With the defence spending target of more than 2 per cent of GDP for North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations in mind, the ruling party, led by Kishida, has said Japan should aim to increase its spending to reach a level "necessary to fundamentally reinforce defense capabilities in five years".
To meet the target, Japan, which has long capped its defence budget at around 1 per cent of GDP, needs to secure almost 11 trillion yen ($86 billion) annually to be spent on national security, twice as much as a record 5.4 trillion yen set aside for the current fiscal year to March 2023 on an initial budget basis.
Some senior LDP lawmakers have, however, suggested that the 2 per cent target should be treated as an "indicator", rather than an ultimate goal, with Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary general of the party, saying on Tuesday that Japan should secure a defence budget of roughly 6.5 trillion yen for the next fiscal year.
In the recommendations submitted to the government, the LDP also called for the relaxation of restrictions on arms exports.
Regarding the proposal to obtain counterattack capabilities, the LDP moved away from using "enemy base strike capabilities" in its wording.
The switch from that expression was decided in response to public concern that Japan could be seen as departing from its defence-oriented security policy in pursuit of the ability to make a preemptive strike.