20/02/2013 |

Japan’s Defence Budget

February 20, 2013 by IPB

This article was written by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, associate professor at Kyoto University’s Centre for Southeast Asian Studies. It was published on 13 Feb 2013 in Prachatai.en, an independent web newspaper produced in Thailand. 

“Japan’s Shinzo Abe administration had decided to raise the defence budget for the first time in 11 years. The government called for spending 4.68 trillion yen (US$52 billion) on defence, an increase of 0.8% from last year, in the new fiscal year which will begin this April.

The increase in defence budget was justified by the argument that Japan has in recent years engaged in a number of territorial disputes with its neighbours, including the conflicts over Senkaku/Diaoyu with China, Takeshima/Dokdo with South Korea and the Kuril Islands with Russia.”  Read more…