Japan Abandons Post War Order, And Will Begin Developing Its Own Hypersonic Missiles

Japan has abandoned its post war order as it is now boosting up its military, it has okayed a spending budget which will make it the third largest defense spender on earth, and it will begin developing its own hypersonic missiles. As we read in the Japan Times:

For decades, Japan has based its international clout on economic competitiveness, not military might.
But, with China’s lengthening shadow darkening its doorstep, Japan now seems to be ⤢abandoning its pacifist postwar security policy — which capped defense spending at about 1% of gross domestic product and shunned offensive capabilities — in favor of assuming a central role in maintaining security in the Indo-Pacific region.

Last month, Japan unveiled a bold new National Security Strategy, which includes a plan to ⤢double defense expenditure within five years. That spending — amounting to some $320 billion — will fund Japan’s largest military build-up since World War II and implies the world’s ⤢third-largest defense budget after the U.S. and China. Importantly, the new strategy includes acquisition of ⤢preemptive counterstrike capabilities, such as Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States and the ⤢development of its own hypersonic weapons.

Japan began laying the groundwork for this shift under former Prime Minister ⤢Abe Shinzo, who was assassinated last July. On Abe’s watch, Japan ⤢increased defense spending by about 10%, and, more significantly, reinterpreted (with parliament’s approval) the country’s U.S.-imposed “peace Constitution” to allow the military to ⤢mobilize overseas for the first time since World War II. Abe also sought to amend Article 9 of the Constitution, which renounces “the threat or use of force” by Japan, but his efforts were stymied by ⤢popular protests.

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