|
Japan set to boost
defense: media
Reuters and AFP, TOKYO
Japan¡¦s government is likely to increase defense spending for the first time in
11 years, Japanese media reported yesterday, as newly elected Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe pledges a sterner response to a territorial dispute over the
Diaoyutai Islands (³¨³½¥x) with China.
The government is considering increasing defense spending by about 2 percent to
more than ¢D4.7 trillion (US$53.4 billion) in the fiscal year starting in April,
the Mainichi newspaper reported. It gave no source for its information.
The extra spending would be used to increase personnel in the ground
self-defense forces and upgrade equipment for land, air and maritime forces, the
Asahi newspaper also reported yesterday. It also did not cite any sources.
Japan scrambled fighter jets yesterday to head off a Chinese state-owned plane
that flew near the islands, called the Senkakus in Japan and also claimed by
Taiwan, a Japanese Ministry of Defense spokesman said.
The Japanese jets were mobilized after a Chinese maritime aircraft ventured
about 120km north of the islands at about 12pm, the spokesman said.
The Chinese Y-12 twin-turboprop later left the zone without entering Japanese
airspace over the islands, he added.
It was the first time Japanese fighter jets had been scrambled this year to
counter Chinese aircraft approaching the islands, the spokesman said.
Japan dispatched fighter jets last month after a Chinese state-owned plane
breached airspace over the islands, while Chinese government ships have moved in
and out of waters there for the past few months.
The confrontations have become commonplace since Japan nationalized the East
China Sea islands in September. The Japanese government administers the islands,
and purchased three of them from a private owner then, sparking violent
anti-Japanese protests across China.
There is a renewed focus on whether relations between China and Japan will
improve after voters swept Abe¡¦s conservative Liberal Democratic Party back into
power last month after three years in opposition.
Abe has repeatedly said there is no room for negotiation on the islands and has
said he would boost defense spending to counter China¡¦s growing military clout.
|
