Japan’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and to the “strategic partnership” that Russia and China announced shortly beforehand, has been impressively decisive.
The government’s proposal for a near-doubling of the country’s defense budget over the next five years demonstrates political realism and practical determination. The key question now is how to spend the money.
In its new National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy, Japan acknowledges that it must continue to work with allies — especially the United States, with which it has had a security treaty since 1951 — if it is to defend itself and help maintain peace in the region. But these documents also offer something new. The government has publicly stated its determination to take the leading role in Japan’s self-defense and to deter others from attempting “unilateral changes to the status quo.”