Pacifist Japan unveils historic $320 billion military build-up amid rising regional tensions

Fumio Kishida’s new defence outlay will increase Japan’s defence ministry budget to around a tenth of all public spending at current levels, and will make Japan the world’s third-biggest military spender after the United States and China

Japan said on Friday it would begin a once-unthinkable $320 billion military build-up that will 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 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. “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 Maritime Self Defense Force admiral, who commanded the Japanese fleet in 2008.

In the sweeping five-year plan, which is pacifist Japan's biggest military build-up since World War II, the government said it would also stockpile spare parts and other munitions, expand transport capacity and develop cyber warfare capabilities.

A separate national security strategy document promised close cooperation with the United States and other like-minded nations to deter threats to the established international order.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a serious violation of laws that forbid the use of force and has shaken the foundations of the international order," the paper said.

"The strategic challenge posed by China is the biggest Japan has ever faced," it added, also noting that Beijing had not ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Meeting Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi in Taipei on Friday, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said she expected greater defence cooperation with Japan.