China.com commentator Leshui.
Recently, according to ** reports, Japan's Fumio Kishida ** is working on 7The final negotiation of the 7 trillion yen defense budget for 2024 will be held, and if it is passed, Japan's defense spending will reach a new high next year, increasing by more than 13% from this year's base. In 2023, Japan's defense budget is already as high as 68 trillion yen, an increase of 26% from the previous year. For two years in a row, Japan has increased its defense spending by a large margin, fully exposing its eagerness to strengthen its armed forces and expand its armed forces.
While Japan's military spending has increased substantially, its procurement items are even more vigilant. It has been learned that the most significant increase in the budget for the Japanese military in the purchase of offensive missiles has been significant. The focus is on developing the so-called "defense capability outside the defense zone", including the purchase of air-to-ground attack missiles launched outside the defense zone, expanding the range of its Type 12 land-based anti-ship missile, developing hypersonic **, and even including the purchase of US "Tomahawk" cruise missiles, in order to have the ability to strike China from a long distance. Japan's aggressive military expansion plan shows that it has completely abandoned its past policy of "exclusive defense."
Since Japan's defeat in World War II, Japan has implemented a "pacifist constitution" known for its renunciation of the right to declare war. Under the constraints of the "Peace Constitution," Japan's defense forces have for many years been based on the principle of "exclusively defending themselves," and the missiles they are equipped with do not have a range of no more than 200 kilometers. However, since last year, Japan** has said it is considering deploying more than 1,000 long-range cruise missiles to "cover the coastal areas of North Korea and China" and is preparing to develop new missiles with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers. At the end of last year, Japan** also adopted three security policy documents, proposing to vigorously develop "counterattack capabilities" and increase the total defense spending to 43 trillion yen in the next five years, reaching 2% of GDP.
It can be seen from this that today's Japan has not only completely deviated from the "Peace Constitution", but is also speeding up the implementation of its "crazy" military expansion plan, even at the expense of emptying the wallets of the Japanese people. At present, Japan's domestic inflation rate remains high, and household income has fallen significantly. In the first three quarters of 2023, Japan's inflation rate reached 35%, a new high in nearly 30 years. At the same time, in October this year, the average real wage of Japanese employees fell by 23%, which has been negative for 19 consecutive months. However, instead of being sympathetic to the people's livelihood, Kishida** cleverly set up a plan to increase taxes to supplement military spending. A new "pollen tax" will be levied, consumption tax will be raised, and income tax, tobacco tax, and corporate tax ...... increasedThere are many "fancy" tax hike schemes. According to statistics, in the last two years, income tax and personal resident tax alone have increased by 35 trillion yen. As a result, the character "tax" was also elected as Japan's 2023 kanji of the year with the highest number of votes. On Japanese social **, Fumio Kishida himself was nicknamed "the man with glasses who increased taxes" by netizens.
Historically, the Japanese people have suffered greatly from "militarism," and now, it seems that Japan is in danger of returning to the old road of "militarism." According to the latest poll in Japan, a whopping 69 percent of respondents oppose raising defense spending through tax increases. The general antipathy of the Japanese people to the tax increase and military expansion is directly reflected in the fact that Kishida**'s support rate has been declining. At present, the public approval rating of the Kishida cabinet has fallen to 225% - approaching 20% of the "** waters", 405% of Japanese people want Fumio Kishida to "resign as soon as possible". However, paradoxically, Kishida**, who is known as elected to power, not only did not postpone his military expansion plan because of public opposition, but continued to increase the speed. The reason for this is naturally inseparable from the "invisible hand" of the United States.
In fact, at the end of last year, after Japan adopted the three security documents and announced its five-year military expansion plan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken immediately issued a statement praising it. In a meeting with Fumio Kishida, Biden also said that the United States would strengthen military cooperation with Japan on top of its increased defense spending. The approval of the "big brother" of the United States undoubtedly gave Kishida the courage to continue to promote the military expansion plan. But the support of the United States is not "free", and there is a shrewd calculation behind it.
First of all, Japan's increase in defense spending will make the US fire dealers make a lot of money. Japan is extremely dependent on the United States for military equipment imports, especially in terms of cutting-edge systems, with up to 97% of Japan's equipment imports coming from the United States. The United States, on the other hand, has made full use of Japan's "dependence" to rip off the bamboo. In November this year, the United States approved 400 Tomahawk Blockiv and BlockV cruise missiles against Japan, with a total price of 23500 million US dollars, with an average unit price of 587$50,000. The unit prices of the "Tomahawk" Blockiv and BlockV, which can be used by the US military, are only $1.59 million and $1.2 million respectively. With an easy three- or four-fold spread, it's no wonder that Biden is desperate to step up military cooperation with Japan.
Second, a rearmed Japan can act as a "pawn" of the United States to contain China. After World War II, the United States was the main driver of Japan's demilitarization. However, since the United States has regarded China as its "most important strategic competitor," Japan's importance on the U.S. strategic map has become increasingly prominent. In addition to acquiescing in Japan's lifting of the ban on the right of collective self-defense and hollowing out the "peace constitution," the United States is also trying to win over Japan to join NATO. Following Fumio Kishida's participation in the NATO summit for two consecutive years, Japan also participated in NATO cybersecurity exercises for the first time in an official capacity in November this year. As China's neighbor separated by a strip of water, a rearmed Japan seems to be playing the role of the "frontier" and "outpost" of the United States in containing China.
As we all know, the economic miracle that Japan created after World War II is inseparable from the path of peaceful development that it chose at that time. Today, however, Japan once again stands at the historical crossroads of war and peace. The Japanese people undoubtedly hated war and longed for peace. Whether Japan chooses to respond to the people's call for peace or choose to fight for US hegemony is a test of the historical responsibility and political wisdom of today's Japanese leaders.
Editors: Tang Hua, Zhang Yanling, Cai Xiaojuan.