The Land of the Rising Gun - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#15048426
Japan and the United States, allied countries with common interests in the Asia-Pacific region, after signing the joint agreements of 1951 and 1960 began to closely cooperate in the political, economic and military spheres. This friendship has been going on for quite long time and over times has only grown stronger.

However, now official Tokyo leadership, which is also called the «American puppet» is aimed at gaining full independence from the States and the restoration of its military power after its devastating defeat in World War II.
Thus, the Ministry of Defense of Japan has published a draft military budget for 2020 fiscal year (it will begin on April 1, 2020), which amounts to 5.322 trillion yen ($ 50.3 billion), which is 1.2 percent more compared to 2019 fiscal year. It is worth noting that the military spending of the country with the beginning of the leadership of Prime Minister S. Abe increased as a whole by 13 percent.

Also, under the new budget, Tokyo plans to purchase three F-35A fighter jets and six F-35B fighter jets from the United States for a total value of 115.6 billion yen ($ 1,090 million). It is assumed that «Izumo» helicopter carriers will be converted to carry F-35B fighters. A total of 20 fighters are planned to be stationed on «Izumo», with a project budget of 3.1 billion yen (approximately $ 39 million).
Moreover, it is worth noting that Japan plans to put into service 147 inconspicuous multi-functional fighter-bombers, to deploy in the short term 2 «Aegis Ashore» ground defense missile systems in Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures by 2023, the cost of each of which will be 125.4 billion yen (approximately 1.18 billion dollars). Military experts estimate that the cost of operating the complexes over the course of 30 years will amount to 449.2 billion yen ($ 4.2 billion). As it is known, the decision to purchase complexes from the United States was made back in 2017.

Furthermore, the budget has planned 52.4 billion yen ($ 494.33 million) for space security. In particular, the cost of eliminating cyber threats is 23.8 billion yen ($ 224.5 million). At the same time, it is planned to create a unit of 20 people as a part of Japanese Self-Defense Forces in Japan to monitor the effects of space debris and potential electromagnetic interference on Japanese satellites.

Thus, Japan’s military spending under the medium-term program until 2024 is 27 trillion yen ($ 255 billion). This indicates the country's complete readiness to use military force not only to protect its interests in the region, but also to defend these interests and may be even for offensive purposes, because history is replete with facts about the atrocities that Japan has committed since ancient times, including terrifying events of WWII.
#15048449
During Abe’s watch, Japan has boosted defense spending by 10% after years of decline, expanding the military’s ability to project power abroad. In a historic shift in 2014, his government reinterpreted the constitution to allow Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War Two.

But the conservative leader’s inability to cement his legacy by revising the charter’s pacifist Article 9 symbolizes persistent public wariness about putting troops in harm’s way far from home and a fear of entanglement in U.S.-led wars.

“For the Japanese people, Article 9 is a kind of Bible,” Hajime Funada, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker and former head of a panel on revising the charter, told Reuters.

Japan’s U.S.-drafted constitution is seen by conservatives as a humiliating symbol of defeat but by others as a brake on entanglement in foreign conflicts.

For both sides, a revision would be hugely symbolic.

According to a survey by NHK TV this week, voters gave the highest marks to Abe’s security and diplomacy policies. But an Asahi newspaper survey earlier this year showed 64% opposed revising Article 9 while 28% favored amendment.

Any constitutional amendment requires approval by two-thirds of both houses of parliament and a majority in a national referendum.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japa ... XN089?il=0


Abe is planning to amend Article 9 of the Constitution which prohibits foreign wars. But for the Japanese people, Article 9 is the Bible set in stone. A newspaper poll showed 64% opposed revising Article 9, which would open a Pandora's box and revive the old militaristic Japan. Article 9 is the safety mechanism in the American-drafted constitution to prevent that from happening. A constitutional amendment requires a majority in a national referendum, making it almost impossible to revise the Constitution.

Article 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
#15048450
Steve Dallas wrote:
Japan and the United States, allied countries with common interests in the Asia-Pacific region, after signing the joint agreements of 1951 and 1960 began to closely cooperate in the political, economic and military spheres. This friendship has been going on for quite long time and over times has only grown stronger.



You're ignoring the diplomatic devastation wrought by Trump.

Japan is trying to work something out with China.

"Relations between China and Japan are noticeably warming. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid an official visit to China in October to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Japan-China peace and friendship treaty, marking the end of a seven-year deep freeze in bilateral relations."

Because they can't trust or rely on America, countries like Japan are trying to make nice with the next biggest guy.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/20 ... ower-work/

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