Japan's defense plans raise hackles in China

 

Japan's new defense white paper has done little to mend fences with Beijing, with the Chinese government complaining that its Asian neighbor is using the "China threat" to justify a bigger defense budget.Japan will spend about $49 billion on defense in the fiscal year to March 2015 -- up about 3% from the previous year -- in the face of what it says is a worsening security environment in the region. It cites tensions on the Korean peninsula and territorial disputes in the sea lanes running south from northern Asia as its key concerns.

Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan is becoming more assertive about its defense posture, and is looking to upgrade its military over the next four years with bigger helicopter carriers, more anti-submarine patrol aircraft, surveillance drones, better amphibious warfare capability, and first deliveries in 2018 of its new fifth-generation fighter, the U.S.-made F35 Joint Strike Fighter.

In terms of regional defense, Japan benefits substantially from its security alliance with the United States, and is a big buyer of U.S.-made weaponry. It also builds its own submarines, surface ships and fighter variants.

China, which will likely spend about $200 billion this financial year on defense -- second only to the United States -- is a significant buyer of Russian aircraft, ships and submarines, but is concentrating on its own domestic capabilities. It launched its first aircraft carrier in late 2012, with two more likely to be built by the end of this decade. It is also developing its own fifth-generation stealth fighter, the twin-engined J20, with the first deployment expected in 2018.