Japan seeks extra defence budget amid concerns over China and North Korea

JAPAN’S cabinet has approved a 770 billion yen (£5.1 billion) request for an extra defence budget through to March to speed up the purchase of missiles, anti-submarine rockets and other weapons, amid rising concern over the escalation of military activities by China, Russia and North Korea.

The request, which is still pending parliamentary approval, brings Japan’s military spending for the current year to a new high of more than £39.5bn, up 15 per cent from £34.bn in 2020.

The Defence Ministry says its “defence power reinforcement and acceleration package” is designed to speed up deployment of some of the key equipment from the 2022 budget request. The goal is to beef up Japan’s defences against North Korea’s missile threat and China’s increasingly assertive maritime activity around remote Japanese south-western islands, officials said.

Japan has also raised concerns over recent joint military activities by China and Russia near its waters and airspace.

This week, a fleet of two Chinese H-6 fighters and two Russian Tu-95s flew from the Sea of Japan to the East China Sea and to the Pacific Ocean, triggering Japanese Self-defecse Force jets to scramble.

The budget request includes nearly £658 million for the advanced version of PAC-3 mobile surface-toair missile interceptors and related equipment, as well as cruise missiles.

Separately, more than £5.3bn will go to speed up the purchase of reconnaissance planes and equipment.

Japan has been stepping up defences in its south-western regions and islands, including Ishigaki

Island, where a new military base with a land-to-sea missile defence system will be operational. Ishigaki is north of the uninhabited Japanese controlled Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China.