Japan’s ruling party presented its electoral platform on Tuesday, in which it plans to increase defense spending, possibly up to double, to counter threats from China and North Korea.
The conservative Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), led by new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, is campaigning to maintain its parliamentary majority in the October 31 elections.
On his platform he also pledged to face the pandemic and strengthen the middle class.
Without directly naming China, the party vowed to “seek responsible action” on human rights issues related to the Uighur Muslim minority, Tibet, ethnic Mongols and Hong Kong.
As a long-term action, the PLD proposed expanding the defense budget beyond 2% of GDP, a rate that would put it at the same level as the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
It would also be a break with the Japanese political tradition of limiting military spending to less than 1% of GDP.
The Japanese Defense Ministry asked for about $ 50 billion for the next fiscal year, which begins in April.
“We are demonstrating our determination to defend the lives, property, territory, territorial waters, airspace, sovereignty and the national honor of the Japanese people,” Sanae Takaichi, LDP policy director, said at a press conference.
“We will offer policies that will result in strong diplomacy and stronger defense capabilities,” added Takaichi, a well-known nationalist.
Japan’s military forces are a sensitive issue because the postwar constitution restricts them to a strictly defensive role, and the PLD has said it wants to review that pacifist stance.
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