Tokyo

In the face if an impending threat from China, Japan is expected to announce its biggest defence overhaul in decades this week. As part of the massive change, spending will be increased and the military command is likely to be reshaped. Acquisition of new missiles to tackle the threat from China is also expected to feature in the new policy.

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Three defence and security documents will outline the changes as soon as Friday and reshape the defence landscape in a country whose post-war constitution does not even officially recognise the military.

"Fundamentally strengthening our defence capabilities is the most urgent challenge in this severe security environment," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at the weekend.

"We will urgently ramp up our defence capabilities over the next five years."

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Also Read | Amid changing geopolitical landscape, Japan plans to boost defence budget

Japan is beginning to see a threat not just from China, a country that has been growing its military strength and regional posturing, but also from North Korea that has launched several missiles in the past few weeks. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has also prompted Japan to sit up and think about strengthening its military to defend itself in case of a foreign aggression.

The highlight of the policy is a pledge to boost spending to two per cent of GDP by 2027 to bring Japan in line with NATO members, marking a significant increase from historic spending of around one per cent. Some experts and citizens have been critical of the hike since it is not clear how it will be financed.

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However, many people in the country also seem to be in favour of increasing defence spending. In a poll published by the Kyodo news agency, over 60 per cent of respondents want the country to obtain "counterstrike capability".

Japan has a pacifist post-war constitution which limits its military capacity to mostly defensive measures. As per local reports, the additional spending will be mainly aimed at "counterstrike" capacity, that is weapons that can target enemy missile launch sites and described by Tokyo as defensive.

To affirm that will be focus on "counterstrike" capacity, policy documents will reportedly insist that Japan remains committed to a "self-defence-oriented security policy" and will "not become a military power".

Japan is reportedly considering purchasing 500 US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles, while it develops longer-range missiles domestically.

(With inputs from agencies)

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