Citing threats from China and North Korea, Japan will double their military spending.

Protesters in Japan who are opposed to the increase in funding. BBC/EPA.

Japan will double the amount they spend on their military, citing threats from China and North Korea. BBC. Japan has been a pacifist country since the conclusion of World War II. That role appears to be changing as former Prime Minster Shinzo Abe redefined the role of Japan's military. The new military budget now will pay for the purchase of American long range missiles capable of destroying bases targeting Japan. The funding will also pay for an expansion in cyberwarfare capabilities. The new military budget will be about 2% of Japan's GDP. China is upset by the increase in funding and is urging Japan to remain partners. However, Japan cites China's threats against Taiwan, as well as possible threats from North Korea, as the justification for the increase in spending. 

My Comment:

I always thought that Japan's post war military policy was fairly misguided. In the past they could at least rely on the United States to protect them, but given the current leadership of the United States and the nonsensical policies emanating from our government, I don't blame them for stepping up their military spending. 

In short, Japan is now doing what every other major country in the world has done with their military. It's actually kind of absurd that they did not have a long range strike capability as pretty much all of the other major players in the region have such weapons. They had greatly handicapped themselves by not having a 2nd strike capability if their enemies attacked them. 

There is a fear I guess that this could create an arms race. I honestly am not too worried about it. The arms race is already basically here with China leading the race. They have spend billions of dollars modernizing their military and building up a major fleet, so it's not surprising that other powers in the region are doing the same thing. 

Japan does face some major threats, and China is only the most obvious. The Japanese and Chinese people have a long history and most of it has been bad. And I think Japan understands that they could be next if Taiwan does get invaded, so they have a major incentive to want to fight in that war if it does indeed happen. 

North Korea is more of a wildcard, they are only dangerous because they are unpredictable. Even under Japan's old military budget and strategy, North Korea would not win a war against Japan. They could hurt Japan though so I do think it's wise for Japan to spend money to try and prevent that, or at least bring up the costs to North Korea if they were to attack by having the ability to destroy their bases. 

And now Russia is a problem for Japan as well. I don't think that Russia has any real reason to be against Japan but the problem is that Japan is allied with the west and the Ukraine situation could end up going so bad that it could draw Japan into the war. I find that fairly unlikely, but it is possible and if it happens Japan needs to be ready for it. 

Still, even with this increase in budget, Japan is still fighting with one hand behind their backs. They don't have nuclear weapons (though I think they could develop them fairly soon) and their fleet is merely a shadow of what it could be. If a major Pacific War were to break out I do think we could see Japan fully abandoning pacifism....