By Li Wei and Meng Lu
Japan has continued to strengthen the building of offensive combat capabilities through internal military construction and foreign military cooperation recently. Analysts believe that Japan's moves will bring more instability and uncertainties to the regional security situation.
Accelerate the pace of construction internally
Increase defense budget. The Japanese media Nikkei reported that according to the Japan Ministry of Defense, the total defense expenditure of Japan will reach 48 trillion yen, or about 325 billion dollars, from the fiscal year 2023 to the fiscal year 2027. These funds will be used to achieve the government's five-year goal of strengthening defense capabilities. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that the new defense spending will be mainly used to develop counterattack capabilities such as attacking enemy's missile launch bases, as well as continuous combat capabilities such as long-range missiles and precision-guided munitions.
Increase the application of technology. Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported that Japan plans to set up a new conference organization where the National Security Strategy and relevant ministries and agencies work together to promote the application of cutting-edge technologies in defense. The Council of Science, Technology and Innovation, which serves as a coordination mechanism for science and technology policy, will also participate in it to create a inter-departmental collaboration system.
Strengthen network power. According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency, the Japanese Ministry of Defense is coordinating and planning to increase the number of the cyber-defense unit of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) established in March 2022 to about 5,000. The Japanese Ministry of Defense plans to increase the number of core personnel dedicated to responding to cyber-attacks to about 890 by the end of 2022, and to 4,000 to 5,000 by 2027.
Improve the level of cooperation with foreign countries
Integrate into the NATO cyber warfare system. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said in early November that Japan has formally joined the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE). The Japan Ministry of Defense stated that Japan has been sending staff to the CCDCOE since 2019 and has officially participated in the center's Locked Shields cyber defense exercise since 2021. Japan hopes to further strengthen cooperation with NATO member states in the cyber field.
Improves the level of cooperation with the UK. The British Financial Times recently reported that the UK and Japan plan to sign the Reciprocal Access Agreement in December, which will lay the legal foundation for joint exercises and logistic cooperation between the two countries. In addition, the two countries will announce the details of the joint development of new fighter jets in December.
Strengthen cooperation with the US military. According to the website of NHK, fighter jets of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and US bombers conducted joint tactical training over the waters surrounding the Kyushu region of Japan on November 5. Five F2 fighter jets of the JASDF, two B1 bombers and two F16 fighter jets of the US Air Force participated in the training.
Broken windows effect worthy of vigilance
It should be said that Japan's recent small strides in the construction of offensive military capabilities are incompatible with its positioning as a "pacifist country" after World War II. In the future, relevant countries need to focus on guarding against the following two tendencies.
The first is that allies are looking for opportunities to "open the door." Taking the construction of integrated network combat capabilities as an example, Japan and the ROK will strengthen cooperation with NATO in the grey area of network defense, which will further make NATO's way to Asia and may change NATO's traditional European attributes and make it a military alliance across Eurasia. The US-led NATO may use the gimmicks of strengthening coordinated combat capabilities and improving the security level of allies to help Japan improve its offensive combat capabilities.
The second is that Japan might take the opportunity to "break the window". The Kishida administration will issue new versions of three major national defense policy documents including the National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy (the former National Defense Program Guidelines) and the Medium-Term Defense Program at the end of 2022. According to external assessments, the Kishida administration will further exaggerate external security threats in relevant documents, and clearly include content such as a substantial increase in defense expenditures and the development of offensive combat capabilities, thereby further bypassing the Peace Constitution and purely defensive defense policies, and continue to move toward the goal of becoming a military superpower, which will make the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region more complicated.
