日本不斷增加的國防預算,現在幾乎與俄羅斯相等

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Japan’s Rising Defense Budget Is Now Nearly on Par With Russia

Isabel Reynolds

Tue, December 6, 2022 at 3:55 p.m.

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ordered a sharp defense spending hike that could see his long-pacifist country’s defense budget balloon to near the levels spent by Russia.

Kishida instructed ministers to put together a budget of about 43 trillion yen ($315 billion) for the five-year period starting in April, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Monday. That’s up 57% on the 27 trillion yen initially budgeted for the current five-year period.

The change of direction for Japan, which has retained a US-drafted pacifist constitution since its defeat in World War II, comes after the country was shocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China’s threats toward Taiwan and North Korea’s atomic ambitions have also lent support for Tokyo to embark on one of its largest military buildups in decades.

A poll conducted by the Yomiuri newspaper over the weekend found 51% of respondents approved of a hike to more than 40 trillion yen, while 42% disapproved.

The money is set to be used for items such as stockpiling missiles that are capable of striking military assets in neighbors Russia, China and North Korea. Another goal over the next 10 years would be to triple the number of military units equipped with ballistic missile interceptors in a southwestern island chain that stretches toward Taiwan, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing a draft of a government document.

The news met with criticism from China. “Japan has been sensationalizing regional tensions in an attempt to seek a military breakthrough,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

“This is highly dangerous. It cannot but put Asian neighbors and the international community on high alert about Japan’s commitment to an exclusively defensive policy and to peaceful development,” she said.

Kishida’s increase could mean Japan leapfrogs countries like Saudi Arabia and France to become the world’s fifth-largest defense spender and reaches annual spending about level with Russia, based on 2021 figures provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The slump in the yen against the dollar in recent months will mean the cash may not go as far as in the past.

Ministries and ruling Liberal Democratic Party politicians have wrangled over the extent of the increase, which will place another strain on the finances of the deeply indebted and aging nation.

The premier called for a concrete plan by the end of the year to fund the increase, including spending reforms and use of non-tax revenues as well as taxes, Hamada said. Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters Tuesday that adjustments would be needed to secure the necessary funds for the five-year period.

The government is set to reveal how it plans to use the funds in revised national security documents and an annual budget to be unveiled later this month.

Kishida has also ordered ministers to aim to raise total defense-related spending to 2% of gross domestic product over the same five-year period. While Japan isn’t a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that would meet the target set for members.

The figure is likely to be made up of defense ministry spending and other items such as research and coastguard funding, which have previously been counted separately.

Translation

（彭博社）- 日本首相岸田文雄已下令大幅增加國防開支，這可能會使這個長期和平主義國家的國防預算激增至接近俄羅斯的水平。

日本防衛大臣Yasukazu Hamada周一表示，岸田指示大臣們為從 4 月開始的五年期編制出約 43 萬億日元（3,150 億美元）的預算。 這比當前五年期最初預算的 27 萬億日元增加了 57%。

自二戰戰敗以來，日本一直保留美國起草的和平憲法，但受俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭一事所震驚，日本改變了方向。 中國對台灣的威脅和北韓的核子野心, 也支持東京開始其幾十年來其中一次最大規模的軍事力量增加。

讀賣新聞周末進行的一項民意調查發現，51% 的受訪者贊成加至 40 萬億日元以上，而 42% 的人不贊成。

這筆錢將用於購儲導彈能夠打擊鄰國俄羅斯、中國和朝鮮軍事資產的導彈等物品。 共同社週一援引一份政府文件草案報導稱，未來 10 年的另一個目標是將在西南向台灣延伸的島鏈上, 把配備有彈道導彈攔截器的軍事單位數量增加兩倍。

這一消息遭到了中國的批評。外交部發言人毛寧週二在北京舉行的例行新聞發布會上說: “日本一直在煽動地區緊張局勢，企圖尋求軍事突破” 。

她說: “這是非常危險的。 這不能不讓亞洲鄰國和國際社會對日本奉行專守防禦政策和和平發展的承諾保持高度警惕” 。

根據斯德哥爾摩國際和平研究所提供的 2021 年數據，岸田的增加可能意味著日本超越沙特阿拉伯和法國等國家成為世界第五大國防支出國，並達到與俄羅斯大致相當的年度支出水平。 近幾個月日元兌美元的暴跌意味著現金可能不會像過去那樣走得那麼遠。

各部門和執政的自民黨政客就加息幅度爭論不休，這將給這個負債累累且老齡化的國家的財政帶來另一壓力。

Hamada 說，首相呼籲在年底前製定一項具體計劃來為增加的資金提供資金，包括支出改革和使用稅收及非稅收。 財務大臣Shunichi Suzuki周二告訴記者，需要進行調整以確保五年期間的必要資金。

政府將在修訂後的國家安全文件透露它計劃如何使用這些資金, 和將於本月晚些時候公佈年度預算。

岸田還命令部長們在同一個五年期間, 將與國防相關的總支出提高到國內生產總值的 2%。 雖然日本不是北大西洋公約組織的成員，但這將達到為成員設定的目標。

這個數字很可能由國防部支出和其他項目組成，例如研究和海岸警衛隊的資金，這些項目以前是單獨計算的。

       So, Japan will beef up the number of its missiles that are capable of striking military assets in Russia, China and North Korea. Its another defense goal over the next 10 years is to triple the number of military units equipped with ballistic missile interceptors in a southwestern island chain that stretches toward Taiwan. I am wondering whether Russia, China and North Korea are the first movers in forcing Japan to make a change in its defense policy.