Japan’s cabinet on Dec. 26 approved a record $784 billion budget for the next fiscal year that includes all-time-high defense spending, underscoring Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push to accelerate military expansion amid rising regional tensions with China.
The draft budget for the fiscal year beginning in April, which still requires parliamentary approval, sets defense outlays at about $64 billion, the largest in Japan’s history.
The increase is part of a multi-year plan to raise annual military spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product, a benchmark Japan pledged to meet by March—two years earlier than initially planned—under pressure from the United States and amid a deteriorating security environment in East Asia….
Japan’s Cabinet Approves Record $64 Billion Defense Budget Amid Tensions With China
