China Japan plans record spending on defense
Japan's government is responding to China's growing striving for power and the threat posed by North Korea with record spending on national defense. The draft budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which begins on April 1, provides for defense spending of around nine trillion yen (49 billion euros) - around 3.5 percent more than in the current fiscal year. Around 100 billion yen alone is earmarked for the development of a system called "Shield" to protect Japan's long coastline and remote islands, for example against ships, submarines and drones. One focus is on the use of drones.
26.12.2025, 09:39
SDA
Heightened tensions with China
The massive military build-up is taking place against the backdrop of heightened tensions with neighboring China. The most recent occasion was statements made by Japan's national conservative Prime Minister on Taiwan. Sanae Takaichi said in November that an attack by China on the democratic island republic of Taiwan would pose an "existential threat" to Japan, which could lead to the exercise of the right to self-defense.
Beijing responded with harsh criticism as well as travel warnings, canceled flight connections and an import ban on Japanese seafood. Japan's plan to station missiles on the island of Yonaguni, just 110 kilometers from Taiwan, also met with strong criticism. Tokyo recently protested because Chinese military aircraft are said to have targeted Japanese fighter jets near the southern Japanese archipelago of Okinawa with a special radar for tracking targets. China refuted this.
High national debt
Japan's draft budget for the coming fiscal year totals a record 122.3 trillion yen. In view of the rapid ageing of society, this is also intended to finance rising social spending. Despite record tax revenues, the government has to issue more government bonds to finance the national budget. Takaichi's aggressive spending policy has put the yen under pressure against the major currencies. Japan's national debt is already more than double the country's annual gross domestic product (GDP).
