Japan to expand military amid Russia-Ukraine conflict

Japan’s Yomiuri Shinbun reported that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s Research Commission on Security, which was chaired by former defense minister Itsunori Onodera, recently proposed to revise the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Program Guidelines, and the Mid-term Defense Program. It called for increasing Japan’s defense expenditure to 2% of GDP, the standard for NATO members, in the next five years.

Hurried revision

The National Security Strategy, the fundamental guidebook on Japan’s diplomatic and defense policies, will have its first revision since being formulated in 2013.

Fan Xiaoju, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), said in an interview that the revision is a step taken by Japan toward its goal of becoming a major military country when the international situation is going through fast changes. It reflects the Japanese right-wing forces’ attempt to break through the limitations imposed by the Peace Constitution by hyping up international tension and consequently become a “normal” country.

The Research Commission on Security explicitly proposed to increase the defense spending to over 2% of GDP within five years, the first time a timeline was set for reaching the percentage. “Setting the five-year term indicates that some political forces in Japan reckon that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has turned international and domestic public opinions in favor of realizing such a goal. Besides, Germany, another losing country in WWII, has already put forth the 2% goal, making Japan all the more eager to seize the opportunity and make some substantial progress on the defense front,” said Fan Xiaoju.