Japan unveils record defense spending amid plans to buy more US weapons

Japan has unveiled a record military budget to buy advanced stealth fighters from the US and convert two ships into aircraft carriers, prompting angry protests from its neighbors. 

The government on Friday approved the budget of $48 billion for the next fiscal year, the fifth record year in a row. 

The funding for the year starting April 1 will cover the cost of two American ground-based Aegis Ashore air defense radars that can track and target ballistic missiles in space.

Japan will order F-35 stealth fighter jets with an option to take off and land vertically. Japan’s Nikkei business paper reported earlier this month that Tokyo was poised to buy 100 F-35 stealth jets from the US at a cost of more than $8.8 billion.

The plan also calls for the military to upgrade two existing “helicopter carriers” so that they will also be able to launch fighter jets in the clearest indication yet of Japan’s ambition to become a regional power.

By refitting its aircraft carriers, Tokyo would be crossing a line in the country’s security policy that has been deemed uncrossable by previous governments.

The move is controversial, with critics arguing it moves Tokyo further away from its commitment to strictly defensive capabilities, under Japan’s post-World War II Pacifist Constitution.

Japan’s plans to purchase F-35 jets comes a year after President Donald Trump urged Tokyo to buy more US-made military equipment. 

Trump, who has already complained about a “very high deficit” with Japan, previously hailed his good relations with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but said, “Of course that will end as soon as I tell them how much they have to pay.”

"Japan's growing defense budget is directly aimed to counter China's military threat," said Akira Kato, professor of international politics and regional security at Tokyo's JF Oberlin University.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said Tokyo was making "groundless and irresponsible accusations against China's normal defense construction and military activities" to play up the China threat.

"For historical reasons, Japan's actions in military security have greatly concerned its Asian neighbors and the international community," she said.

In Seoul, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said Tokyo’s policies should be enforced under the framework of its pacifist constitution.

North Korea, which was cited as another reason by Japan to boost its military budget, also reacted to the record military spending.

In a commentary, Minju Joson, one of the country’s four main daily newspapers, said Japan was "going to betray its true colors as a militarist basilisk."

Another newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, described the exclusive defense principle as "phoney" for being a smokescreen to beef up military muscle.

The budget has also sparked anger among Japanese academics and lawyers, who described it as wanton military spending.

A group of about 230 Japanese academics and lawyers signed a joint statement to strongly protest the move, saying the government approved the budget only to mollify its security ally, Washington.

They also complained that the budget was approved as areas like social spending suffer cutbacks.

The Asahi Shimbu, one of the five national newspapers in Japan, warned the move as an "alarming rush to militarization" that could spark a futile arms race.

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