{"id":77368,"date":"2016-12-25T22:32:17","date_gmt":"2016-12-25T22:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trueactivist.com\/?p=77368"},"modified":"2016-12-25T22:32:17","modified_gmt":"2016-12-25T22:32:17","slug":"after-decades-of-pacifism-japan-set-to-increase-defense-spending-by-44-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trueactivist.com\/after-decades-of-pacifism-japan-set-to-increase-defense-spending-by-44-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"After Decades Of Pacifism, Japan Set To Increase Defense Spending By $44 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"
Credit – Green Stylo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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After World War II, it seemed unlikely that Japan would ever return to its prior state as a military power, largely due to article 9<\/a> of its post-war constitution that \u201cforever [renounced] war as a sovereign right of the nation.\u201d Following the Allied occupation of the country and near complete disarmament, Japan was all but forced to align itself to US interests as it came to rely on the American military almost exclusively for its defense. To this day, the US State Department refers to<\/a> the American-Japanese as relationship \u201cthe cornerstone of US security interests in Asia and [\u2026] fundamental to regional stability and prosperity.\u201d Though the US has pushed Japan to re-militarize on more than one occasion, such as the Korean War, Japan continued, for much of the last sixty years, to restrict military spending to about 1% of its gross national product.<\/p>\n

Yet, everything began to change when Junichiro Koizumi assumed the office of President in 2001. Koizumi, likely influenced by the hawkish Bush administration, approved the expansion of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, even allowing them to operate outside of the country. In 2004, Koizumi sent a sizeable number of forces to assist the US occupation in Iraq<\/a> and Afghanistan<\/a>. Then, in 2007, he upgraded the Japan Defense Agency to ministry status, creating the Japanese Ministry of Defense. However, Koizumi\u2019s efforts pale in comparison to those of Japan\u2019s current prime minister, Shinzo Abe. Abe, by 2015, had transformed Japan\u2019s Defense spending, making its defense budget the 7th<\/sup> largest<\/a> in the world despite the fact that they still have no \u201cformal\u201d military. That same year, Abe led the charge to essentially repeal the pacifist clause of the constitution in order to allow Japanese troops to fight more easily in overseas conflicts, even if Japan itself is not threatened. The measure came packaged with 10 other security bills, which were widely opposed by the Japanese people. However, that didn\u2019t stop Abe from forcing them through parliament, a move which sparked fist fights<\/a> and general chaos among legislators. A member of\u00a0Japan’s Democratic party said<\/a>, \u201cIf bills can be passed in a violent way like that, then our country\u2019s democracy is dead.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This year, Abe\u2019s efforts at militarization continue as Japan\u2019s government just approved a record-breaking defense budget<\/a> of \u00a5<\/span>5.1 trillion (~$44 billion) which will include six new submarines, eight new coast guard ships<\/a>, and an upgraded missile defense system among other investments in military assets. <\/span>The stated reason for this increase largely revolves around a chain of disputed islands, which both Japan and China claim as their own. In recent years, these islands have been the site of several confrontations between the two country\u2019s armed forces. The most recent took place earlier this month when the Chinese Defense Ministry accused Japanese jets of interfering<\/a> with \u201cChinese military aircraft from close range and even launched jamming shells, which endangered the safety of Chinese aircraft and crew.\u201d Japan argued that the fighter jets were scrambled when six Chinese aircraft \u201ctrespassed\u201d on territorial waters near the disputed islands. <\/span>Japan \u201cscrambled\u201d Chinese jets in the vicinity of the island 407 times just this year. China\u2019s islands disputes have also been contentious issues for other US allies in Asia as well as the US itself, as the US has \u201cprovoked\u201d China<\/a> in disputed waters on more than one occasion in recent years. Like many other international conflicts currently brewing, this seems like an accident waiting to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are your thoughts?<\/i> Please comment below and share this news!<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

This article (After Decades of Pacifism, Japan Set to Increase Defense Spending By $44 Billion<\/a>) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons<\/em><\/a> license with attribution to the author and <\/em>True Activist<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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