On February 8, the Japanese government finalized amendments to the Self-Defense Forces Act at a cabinet meeting, allowing foreigners to evacuate by Self-Defense Forces planes when riots occur overseas.
On February 9, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force "Amphibious Regiment" and the U.S. Marine Corps held a joint military training in the western state of California.
Previously, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi chaired the 3rd "Military Power Acceleration Strengthening Conference" to study new measures to deploy military power to accelerate the development.
In recent years, Japan has deepened its military cooperation with the United States, while accelerating its own military strength, and constantly expanding the scope of activities of the Self-Defense Forces. Its ambition to "completely loosen" the military is clear.
Defense spending hits record highs.
In June 2021, Japan abolished the upper limit of 1% of GDP in the defense budget that has been implemented for more than 40 years, and established a new orientation of defense expenditure based on "military power building needs", indicating that Japan's defense spending will have no upper limit, and military power building " Self-unbinding" is more explicit.
In November 2021, the Japanese government officially passed the supplementary budget for fiscal year 2021 of 773.8 billion yen proposed by the Ministry of Defense, and positioned it as an “acceleration package for strengthening Japan’s defense capabilities.”
Combined with the defense budget of 5.34 trillion yen for fiscal year 2021 passed in December 2020, Japan's total annual defense spending exceeded 6 trillion yen for the first time.
In addition, according to Japanese media reports, Japan will revise the "Defense Plan Outline" and "Mid-term Defense Force Development Plan" in 2022. The defense budget plan for the new five-year period will exceed 30 trillion yen for the first time, which is higher than the defense spending in the previous five-year period. An increase of nearly 3 trillion yen.
Speed up the R&D and installation of new military equipment.
Purchasing advanced military equipment is an important part of Japan's acceleration of military force building.
According to reports, Japan's "accelerated strengthening of military power" will focus on the construction of Japanese military enterprises, the procurement of new military equipment, and the maintenance and upgrading of military equipment and bases.
After years of resource investment and covert operations, Japan has built a land, sea, air, and space multi-dimensional anti-missile and air defense early warning system based on platforms such as radar, satellites, aircraft, and ships, and regards maintaining and strengthening joint anti-missile and air defense capabilities as a priority for military power building.
Japan's defense supplementary budget for fiscal year 2021 will be used for the newly purchased "Patriot-3" enhanced version of the land-based anti-missile system and 03 improved version of the medium-range surface-to-air missiles and other weapons and equipment to accelerate the upgrade of its joint anti-missile defense capabilities.
In addition, Japan also plans to purchase several Type 12 torpedoes and Type 18 torpedoes this year, as well as 3 new P-1 anti-submarine patrol aircraft, 1 C-2 transport aircraft, 13 UH-2 multi-purpose military helicopters, and 2 ship-based vertical launch systems. Sets, repair and upgrade the military base in Okinawa, etc.
The degree of actual combat of the Japan-US joint exercise has been improved.
Under the constraints of the epidemic, there will still be 118 open joint exercises between Japan and the United States in 2021, involving many types of joint operations, joint anti-submarine warfare, joint network operations, and joint aircraft landing coordination.
These joint exercises have a high degree of actual combat, and the training objectives are becoming more and more specific.
From December 4th to 17th, 2021, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Marine Corps will jointly conduct the largest joint actual combat exercise "Dragon of Perseverance 21" in history.
According to the official data of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the exercise emphasized the background of offensive and defensive operations on the "Southwest Islands". And try to improve the level of military cooperation between Japan and the United States.
Japan has spared no effort to speed up the construction of its military power and seek to "completely loosen" the military, and its practices are becoming more and more explicit.
The effectiveness and credibility of Japan's pacifist constitution has long been compromised, and some politicians are rampant in their confrontational thinking and militaristic delusions.
The international community and the majority of peace-loving people must be highly vigilant about its sinister intention to "revive" militarism.
(Author: School of International Relations, National University of Defense Technology)
Feng Kaibao Wei Xinran