Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida rides on a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Type 10 tank during a review at the JGSDF Camp Asaka in Tokyo, Japan. The Cabinet of Japan approved a record budget of over four trillion dollars for the next fiscal year, which will include research and development into future fighter jets and other "game-changer" arsenals. In this file photo, Kiyoshi Ota poses for a picture.
Japan's Cabinet approved a record defense budget of over 4 trillion dollars for the next fiscal year, including funding for research and development of a new fighter jet and other "game-changing" weapons, in response to China.
The 1.1% budget increase for the year beginning in April is the 10th consecutive defense spending increase and is in line with Japan's pledge to the United States to strengthen its own defense capabilities to tackle increasingly challenging security issues in the region.
The budget includes a record amount for defense research and development, up 38% from the current year.
The F-X fighter jet is being developed to replace Japan's aging fleet of F-2 aircraft. It would be the first domestically developed fighter jet in 40 years.
Japan and Britain have recently agreed to explore further combat air technologies and subsystems. The project includes Rolls-Royce in the U.K. and IHI in Japan.
Japan's Defense Ministry is pushing for research into artificial intelligence-operated vehicles for aerial and undersea use, supersonic flight, and other "game-changing" technologies, as China's military build up extends to cyberspace and outer space.
The budget allocates over a billion dollars for the purchase of a dozen F-35 stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin Corp., including four with short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities for use on two helicopter carriers, key to Japan's joint operations with the United States.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who used to be known as a dove, has adopted more hawkish policies and said Japan should consider acquiring a pre-emptive strike capability in response to China and North Korea.
The Japanese and US militaries have prepared a contingency plan for fighting between Chinese and Taiwanese forces, according to a report.
Taiwan is China's own territory and will be annexed if necessary. It has increased its military threats by holding exercises near the island and sending warplanes into its air defense identification zone.
The U.S. Marine Corps will set up temporary bases on islands in Japan's Nansei chain between Kyushu and Taiwan for the deployment of troops in the early stages of a Taiwan emergency, while Japan's military will provide logistical support as well as ammunition and fuel.
The foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the United States are expected to meet in January to draw up a plan to deal with a nuclear attack.
The site of the bloodiest battle in World War II is likely to be protested by local residents.
Nobuo Kishi, the Defense Minister, refused to comment on the report, but said that Japan and the United States have action plans in case of emergencies. The U.S. military would be able to open a base on Japanese soil if the Japan-U.S. committee approves the status of forces agreement.
The former Prime Minister of Japan, who is still influential in the governing Liberal Democratic Party, warned the Chinese President against triggering a Taiwan emergency.
According to international defense research organizations, Japan is now among the top 10 defense spenders in the world.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government on Friday approved a 10th straight annual increase in defence spending, against a backdrop of China's rapid military expansion and North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes. The budget for the fiscal year starting April 1 will increase by 1.1%, still less than China's military budget this year, according to official Beijing data. In April, Japan's then-premier Yoshihide Suga pledged to strengthen his country's defence capability in light of a more challenging regional security environment, following a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Japan's government is going on a spending spree as Tokyo shoppers prepare for the festive season. The annual budget was approved by cabinet ministers on Friday. For the tenth year in a row, that number has broken. The first budget for the new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shows his priority of reviving growth. Emergency costs related to the global health crisis are included. It is a priority as well. The budget includes a record amount of money for the armed forces. That is a bid to keep up with China's military expansion. Japan's record spending comes with public debts already looking mountainous.
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The U.S. Marine Corps would deploy troops if there was an emergency with Taiwan, according to a report.
CNN reported that US intelligence agencies believe Saudi Arabia is developing its own missiles.
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China's securities watchdog proposed tighter rules for Chinese companies listing abroad on Friday, saying it would improve oversight and allow them to continue. The draft rules were posted on the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and had been eagerly anticipated by investors.
The DOJ announced on Thursday that one of the largest private landlords in the military had pleaded guilty to fraud. The Department of Defense said that the company entered a guilty plea in Washington, D.C., for submitting false information to the military in order to get performance bonuses. The company was ordered to pay $33.6 by the judge.
Four sources have told us that Russian mercenaries have been deployed to eastern Ukraine in recent weeks to bolster defences against the Ukrainian government. In recent weeks, Russia has moved tens of thousands of regular troops to staging posts closer to Ukraine and followed up by demanding urgent security guarantees from the West designed to prevent Ukraine and other neighbours from being used as a base to attack it. The West and Ukraine have accused Russia of planning a new attack on its southern neighbour as soon as next month.
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The West is threatening the war in Ukraine, says Putin.
A lawmaker from Petro Poroshenko's group in parliament said on Friday that the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office had asked a court to arrest the former president on suspicion of high treason. The Prosecutor General office confirmed on Christmas Eve that they had approved a motion to arrest Poroshenko with the possibility of bail set at 1 billion hryvnia. The prosecutor general's office refused to confirm Gerashchenko's claim.
The bill signed by President Biden on Thursday banned imports from China's Xinjiang region and punished the Chinese government for the genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. Human rights activists say the bill will impose the first substantive costs on the Chinese government for its atrocities. This could set a precedent for other countries to follow.
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Indians are crowding markets and taking packed flights to holiday destinations again despite calls from authorities to be careful amid rising cases of the Omicron variant of the coronaviruses. In the western state of India, which is popular as a tourist destination for its beaches and offshore casinos, hotels are running at almost 100% full, with 90 flights landing in the western state daily. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government warned states not to let their guard down as cases of the Omicron variant jumped to 358, although no deaths have been reported so far.
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He's been called out.
There are two images that have been shared on the social networking site and a claim that the teenage son of a Hong Kong celebrity couple is wearing pro-democracy T-shirts. The posts emerged after the teenager sparked anger from some Chinese social media users by suggesting that Hong Kong is not in China. The images have been altered from an old photo of the teenager in which he was wearing a sports shirt.
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