Saturday, May 23, 2020

Japan Builds Up Its Military To Face China

A Japanese naval vessel at sea. Photo: Facebook

Asia Times: Japan could carry the day in a US-China conflict

Japan's military rise has been stealthy but strong and is increasingly concentrated on China's perceived threat

When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last month that the Covid-19 pandemic was the biggest national crisis since World War II, it was widely overlooked that just weeks earlier his government passed by far the nation’s biggest defense budget since the end of that conflict.

The Japanese Diet, or parliament, approved a whopping US$46.3 billion defense budget on March 27, replete with earmarks for new hypersonic anti-ship missiles and helicopter carrier upgrades that will allow for the carrying of Lockheed Martin F-35B stealth fighters.

Defense-related spending in Japan has traditionally aimed chiefly to shield against neighboring North Korea’s nuclear threat. But the new ramped up spending is more clearly pointed towards an expansionist and increasingly assertive China, according to Japanese military insiders.

“It is China, not North Korea, that is the main concern,” said a Japanese official who requested anonymity.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Many are not sure that Japan is capable of facing China in a military .... Has China's Navy Caught Up (and Surpassed) Japan? (National Interest). In the meantime, China is making its presence felt .... Two Advances for Chinese Navy after Monthlong Aircraft Carrier Voyage near Japan, Taiwan (VOA).

8 comments:

Bearcat said...

I love your blog. Unrelated: check your title on this one. That second "Japan" was likely meant to be "China".

Anonymous said...

While the Japanese will be fighting themselves, it looks like the US will be fighting China.

Dems Block China Investigation Even After Communist Regime Threatens U.S. Senators by Name

Dems Block China Investigation Even After Communist Regime Threatens U.S. Senators by Name

Anonymous said...

Isn't it obvious by now - with the Russia collusion disproved - that the Democrats and the US media (and some republicana too ) get tons of money from China, including the Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden? The Democrats are in damage control mode as they were all bought by China and were fed the narrative that Russia is our #1 enemy - which they repeated like our own parrot Fred Lapides, who has been proven to be brain dead and morally corrupt (even runs a porn/smut website while calling our president sexist - you cannot make this up). And they had Flynn illegally unmasked and spied on "because he was more concerned about China than Russia". The DNC scandal is so vast and deep that their entire political brand is at stake and could be damaged for decades. Expect them to double down. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. And still people vote for these traitors and the corruption and coup they tried to perpetrate together with the leftist media who - you guessed it - is in part owned and financed by the Chinese party. Don't believe me? Look up who owns CNNs parent company and their ties to China.

Anonymous said...

If the title is correct, it seems a rather self-defeating endeavor.

Anonymous said...

Japan needs more "helicopter carriers"...China doesn't seem to mind.

Anonymous said...


Not to stray from the subject but having grown up with Victory at Sea,[I watched the first episode, Pearl Harbor, which was again shown the next week] Crusade in the Pacific, and others, to this day, whenever I see that Rising Sun flag....boy oh boy!

A couple of excellent books on the early WWII naval struggle are The Barrier and the Javelin, and of course, Shattered Sword.

Hans Persson said...

The title broke my brain. Thanks.

War News Updates Editor said...

Title changed.