Japan has "no technical opportunity" to say "no" to the US when it comes to its military capabilities, Okinawa Prefecture deputy Danny Tamaki told Sputnik.
Tamaki's remark came a few days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed concern about US plans to deploy ground-based Aegis radar stations and interceptors in Japan, and doubted that the latter would be able to manage this missile defense system on its own.
"Today Japan can't say to the US: Thank you, now we will use these systems by ourselves. We have to ask the US for help in order to activate the missile defense complexes they sold us. Japan, which is now incapable of creating its own military power, has to rely on the United States," the official said.
At the same time, Tamaki noted that the nature of relations between Japan and the US should be "changed" and "transformed from a military alliance into an equal partnership."
"To achieve this, our government needs to review its line of conduct and determine which part of the responsibility for the country it is able to take. However, it is difficult to expect such actions from the current government of Shinzo Abe," Tamaki said.
The official also stressed that he "understands Russia's concerns," but noted that under present conditions "it is difficult to talk about an independent Japanese policy." He also noted that the Aegis system is being used by Japan only for defensive purposes.
"The installation of the Aegis missile defense system pursues exclusively defensive goals and does not serve as a signal of Japan's preparations for military action," Tamaki concluded.
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Japan has been increasing its military potential since last year, when the country's authorities adopted the largest national budget in the country's history for the next fiscal year starting, which begins April 1, 2018, in the amount of 97.7 trillion yen ($897 billion).
The country's defense spending has certainly not seen the lowest increase due to North Korea's growing activity in the development of its nuclear and missile programs.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.