Japan shifts Defense Policy to Countering China

来源：百度文库编辑：神马文学网时间：2024/04/30 02:07:11

^{_{Japan shifts Defense Policy to Countering China}}

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2010-12-17 14:49
File photo of Japan's Self-Defence Army

Japan announced a new defense policy on Friday that will respond to China’s rising military might by building more submarines and other mobile forces capable of defending Japan’s southernmost islands.

The new National Defense Program Guidelines are the biggest step yet in a decade-long shift away from cold war-era deployments of heavy tank and artillery units on the northern island of Hokkaido — to counter a now-vanished Soviet threat — and toward bolstering Japanese forces in the southern islands around Okinawa, where China’s navy has become a growing presence.

The new guidelines also used uncharacteristically strong language to warn of China and its increasing naval activities, calling them “a matter of concern for the region and the international community.” Three months ago, Beijing and Tokyo clashed diplomatically over uninhabited islands claimed by both nations but controlled by Japan. The islands are called the Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

The new policy called for increasing the number of Japan’s submarines to 22 from the current 16, while reducing the number of tanks by a third to about 400. It also called for creating more mobile forces, which analysts have said could include creating new air and seaborne units that could quickly move to defend remote islands.

The guidelines also called for increasing military cooperation with the United States, Japan’s postwar protector, and other democracies in the region including South Korea, Australia and India. It did not address recent requests from Washington for the Japanese military, known as the Self-Defense Forces, to join in three-way drills with the United States and South Korea that would be aimed at North Korea.

It is the first time for Japan to shift the military focus to China since 40 years ago.

Do you think Japan's changed military policy will pose a substantive threat to China?

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