The hefty budget plan, pending parliamentary approval, is the first installment of a five-year, 43-trillion-yen ($325-billion) military spending plan under the new defense buildup plan also announced last week. The new spending target follows the North Atlantic Treaty Organization standard and will eventually push Japan's annual budget to about 10 trillion yen ($73 billion), the world's third biggest after the US and China. Annual spending for 2023 on long-range ammunition alone will be tripled from this year to 828 billion yen ($6.26 billion). To address the concern, Tokyo will spend about 100 billion yen ($7.6 million) next year also to beef up cybersecurity to protect Japanese defense technology and industry. Opponents say strike capability goes beyond self-defense under Japan's pacifist post-WW2 constitution, which limits use of force strictly to defending itself.

Source: Manila Times December 23, 2022 21:53 UTC