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Faced with rising tensions in Asia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Japan is accelerating the acquisition of new defense capabilities. It could deploy more than 1,000 long-range missiles, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper suggests, in response to a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, North Korean missile launches and increased Russian military activity in the Sea of Japan.
With Frédéric Charles, RFI correspondent in Tokyo
Japan wants to deploy a thousand missiles in the south of the archipelago, on the island of Kyushu, but also on small islands about 100 km from Taiwan. The range of its missiles against warships would increase from 100 to a thousand kilometers. This would allow them to reach the coastal areas of China and North Korea.
The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper added that Japanese planes and ships would also be equipped with the ability to launch new missiles that could hit ground targets.
In a television studio, former Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera stated that Japan must demonstrate to countries intending to attack it that they would expose themselves to a powerful attack capability. The country must also show the same courage as Ukraine if it wants to have the support of its allies to defend it; it is one of the lessons that Japan must learn from the war in Ukraine, Itsunori Onodera said.
constitutional change
Since the start of the European conflict, Japan has been considering doubling its defense spending to 2% of its GDP. China’s military budget, some 225 billion euros, is between five and six times that of Japan.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chinese and Russian ships and bombers have been hovering over Japan. While Russian submarines have fired cruise missiles of the same type used in Ukraine, China is also increasing its activities around the Senkaku Islands, administered by Japan but claimed by Beijing.
Japan depends on the security treaty with the United States for its defense. However, it is also trying to revise its pacifist constitution to adapt it to international developments.
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