MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - Japan’s Defense Ministry has made its biggest-ever budget claim, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe continues to boost the country's military expenditure in light of China’s increasing geopolitical activities, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Friday.
The ministry requested about $48.7 billion from the annual budget to acquire advanced military hardware, including five V-22 Osprey aircraft, three Global Hawk drones, six F-35 stealth fighter aircraft and 20 Kawasaki P-1 military patrol aircraft.
Additionally, the ministry wants to spend a portion of the budget on establishing an amphibious brigade that would protect the country’s Ryukyu Islands, stretching from the country’s south to Taiwan.
The immense budget project fits in with Abe’s policy of building a more active military in order to counter the growing influence of Beijing in Southeast Asia.
The uninhabited islands of Senkaku, currently administrated by Japan, are subjects of a major territorial dispute between the countries. In 2013, China included the islands in its Air Defense Identification Zone. Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese navies have carried out exercises in the area, sparking mutual accusations of provocations and increasing military tensions in the region.
