PM Kishida vows to strengthen military at int’l naval review

TOKYO (AP):

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at an international fleet review on Sunday that his country urgently needs to strengthen its military capabilities as security risks increase, including threats from North Korea’s nuclear and missile advancement and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Eighteen warships from 12 countries participated in the review, including the United States (US), Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea, while the US and France also sent warplanes.

South Korea joined for the first time in seven years, in the latest sign of improvement in badly strained ties between Tokyo and Seoul over Japan’s wartime atrocities.

“The security environment in the East and South China seas, especially around Japan, is increasingly becoming more severe,” Kishida said, noting North Korea’s increased missile firings, including one that flew over Japan last month, and growing concern about the impact in Asia of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Avoiding disputes and seeking dialogue is important, Kishida said, but it is also necessary to be prepared for provocations and threats to peace and stability. He repeated his pledge to significantly reinforce Japan’s military capability within five years.

Kishida said Japan urgently needs to build more warships, strengthen antimissile capability, and improve working conditions for troops.

NO TIME TO WASTE

“We have no time to waste,” Kishida said after his review aboard the JS Izumo, where naval officers from the participating countries gathered to review a demonstration of the frigates, submarines, supply ships and warplanes in Sagami Bay, southwest of Tokyo.

The 248-metre- (813-foot-) long Izumo has been retrofitted so that it can carry F-35Bs, stealth fighters capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings, as Japan increasingly works side by side with the US military.

Kishida said Japan will further strengthen the deterrence and response capability of the Japan-US alliance.

The US military, which had just finished a joint exercise with South Korea that prompted missile barrages and other warnings from North Korea, is set to hold major drills with Japan later this month in southwestern Japan. Australia, Canada and Britain will join part of the drills, while France, India, New Zealand, the Philippines and South Korea are expected to take part as observers.

Japan has steadily stepped up its international defence role and military spending over the past decade, and plans to double its military budget in the next five to 10 years to about two per cent of its GDP, citing a NATO standard, amid threats from North Korea and China’s growing assertiveness.

China has reinforced its claims to virtually the entire South China Sea by constructing artificial islands equipped with military installations and airfields. Beijing also claims a string of islands that are controlled by Japan in the East China Sea, and has stepped up military harassment of self-ruled Taiwan, which it says is part of China to be annexed by force if necessary.

Kishida’s government is currently working on a revision to its national security strategy and mid- to long-term defence policies, and is considering allowing the use of preemptive strikes in a major shift to Japan’s self-defence-only post-war principle. Critics say preemptive strikes could violate Japan’s pacifist constitution.