Interview: Japan's rising military spending shows dangerous trend, says critic

Japan's rising military budget exemplifies the Abe administration's ambition to expand military power while complying with the U.S. Asia-Pacific rebalance strategy, said well-known Japanese military critic Tetsuo Maeda in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"In face of the uncertainties brought by the new U.S. administration to be led by Donald Trump, such military expansion as prompted by the Abe administration, shows a very dangerous trend," he said.

The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe greenlighted on Thursday a record-high defense budget of 5.13 trillion yen (44 billion U.S. dollars), marking the fifth straight annual increase since Abe took office in 2012.

As Maeda saw it, the huge budget, with a large proportion of it allocated to buy state-of-the-art weaponry and equipment such as F-35 stealth fighters and V-22 Ospreys, far exceeds the need of a country that holds a purely defensive stance.

He also pointed out that Japan is speeding up the establishment of new forces, such as a Marine Corps-like amphibious force, and is considering introducing the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

The country is now able to fight wars abroad with greater "military forces" as well as the newly-enacted security laws which are commonly called "war laws" in Japan, he said.

According to Maeda, Abe's so-called "active pacifism" is in essence a military stance with an aggressive nature.

Under the flag of the so-called "active pacifism," the Japanese Self-Defense Forces are no longer purely defensive forces but trying to play a bigger role overseas, including in the South China Sea and East China Sea areas.

The Abe administration is also trying to push forward its alliance with not only the United States but also South Korea and Australia in an effort to contain China, especially on maritime issues, said Maeda.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has been quoted as saying in his campaign that countries like Japan, South Korea and Germany should pay more costs related to U.S. troops' presence in those countries.

In Maeda's opinion, Trump, the next U.S. president, would bring uncertainties to the U.S. Asia-Pacific rebalance strategy which Japan has been complying with.

Trump is likely to ask Japan to further improve its military expenses to 2 percent of its GDP, which amounts to some 10 trillion yen (85 billion dollars), and even encourage Japan to directly confront China, said Maeda.

In the face of uncertainties following Trump's win in the U.S. presidential election, Japan's military expansion as being prompted by the Abe administration will be very dangerous, said Maeda. Endit