Faced with rising tensions in Asia since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Japan is accelerating the acquisition of new defense capabilities. It could deploy more than a thousand long-range missiles, the newspaper suggests Yomiuri Shimbunin response to a potential invasion of Taiwan by China, missile strikes by North Korea, and increased military activity by Russia in the Sea of Japan.
With our correspondent in Tokyo, Frederic Charles
Japan wants to deploy a thousand missiles in the south of the archipelago, in the island of Kyushu but also on small islands a hundred kilometers from Taiwan. The range of its anti-ship missiles would increase from 100 kilometers to a thousand kilometers. This would allow them to reach the coastal areas of China and North Korea.
The newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun adds that Japanese planes and ships would also be equipped with the ability to launch new missiles that can hit ground targets.
In a television studio, former Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera declares that Japan must demonstrate to countries tempted to attack it that they would expose themselves to powerful means of striking. The country must also show the same courage as Ukraine if it wants to count on the support of its allies to defend it. This is one of the lessons that Japan must draw from the war in Ukraine, further asserts Itsunori Onodera.
Change of Constitution
Since the beginning of the European conflict, Japan plans to double its defense spending to reach 2% of its GDP. The Chinese military budget, around 225 billion euros, is five to six times higher than that of Japan.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chinese and Russian ships and bombers have been looming off the coast of Japan. While Russian submarines fired cruise missiles of the same type as those used in Ukraine, the China is also increasing its activities around the Senkaku Islands, administered by Japan, but claimed by Beijing.
Japan depends for its defense on the security treaty with the United States. However, it also seeks to revise its pacifist Constitution to adapt it to the evolution of the international situation.
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