Japan to forgo setting ceiling on 2023 military spending: Report
Japan will reportedly forgo setting a ceiling on its military spending in next fiscal year’s annual budget, in a move which indicates its interest in boosting military at a time of tension with its neighbor China.
The Tokyo-based newspaper Nikkei reported on Saturday that the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will not set a ceiling on next year's defense spending.
Tokyo usually sets a ceiling on spending requests submitted by ministries in crafting its annual state budget to prevent expenditures from going up too much and straining the country's already worsening finances.
The Kishida administration will make defense expenditure an exception in next fiscal year's budget as it plans to ramp up spending on purchases of longer-range missiles and cyber security research, the paper said without citing sources.
Kishida had already vowed to increase Japan’s defense spending. Asked at a debate of political party leaders how much he plans to raise the defense spending and how he will finance the rise, he said there was no numerical target.
In an annual economic policy roadmap released in June, the Kishida administration said it sought to drastically increase defense spending "within the next five years."
Some analysts view Kishida’s plan of hiking military spending as an instrument to counter China's growing military might.
Japan, a close ally to the United States, said in its military review earlier this year that China is Tokyo's main national security concern.
China has significantly upgraded its military infrastructure in recent years, amid rising tensions over Chinese Taipei, the South China Sea, and military supremacy in the Indo-Pacific.
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