Amid N Korea, China threats, Japan pushes for record defence budget 

With threats from China and North Korea looming overhead, Japan's defence ministry on Friday made its biggest-ever budget request in a bid to bolster-up its defence system.

Japan eyes better missile defence and air power for which the ministry wants 5.298 trillion yen ($47 billion) for the next fiscal year.

This would be the seventh straight annual increase in Japan's defence budget, 2.1 per cent more than the last year.

The ministry is set to acquire two sets of US-made Aegis Ashore missile defence systems, which comes at a cost of whopping 234.3 billion yen, six more F-35 fighter jets and two E-2D Hawkeye radar and maritime aircraft.

The defence ministry plans to expand the air force patrol team by adding 30 servicemen to a current team of 830.

The budget request came shortly after the ministry's annual defence review, which said North Korea still poses a "serious and imminent threat" despite a diplomatic detente earlier this year.

The defence review also took aim at China's rise as a military power, saying Beijing was sparking "strong security concerns in the region and international community, including Japan".

What worries Tokyo is Beijing's increasingly aggressive stance over various sovereignty claims, including a long-festering row with Japan over small islands in the East China Sea.

Meanwhile, China, in March this year, announced an 8.1-percent defence budget increase to 1.11 trillion yuan ($175 billion) for 2018. China, which holds the world's largest military, eyes to modernise its defence systems.

(With inputs from Reuters)