Reply To: Chinese Tensions
Under the new strategies, Japan vows to build up its counterstrike capability with long-range cruise missiles that can reach potential targets in China, double its defense budget within five years and bolster development of advanced weapons.
Japan’s Militarization
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/militarized-japan-biden-kishida
Japan’s Constitution’s Article 9, states that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes.” It goes on to commit that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”
Japan’s military spending has grown to $50 billion a year and is about to be doubled. Japan currently ranks as the world’s eighth greatest military spender significantly ahead of U.S. allies like Israel, Italy, Australia, and Canada.