Japan defence ministry asks for record US$48.7b budget

Japan’s defence ministry yesterday made its biggest ever budget request, as Tokyo bolsters its military amid worries over China’s expanding naval reach.

The ministry wants 5.05 trillion yen (US$48.7 billion) for the year, with the focus on boosting protection of a string of southern islands that stretches from Kyushu to waters near Taiwan.

The request, if approved, would mark the third straight annual defence budget increase and a 3.5 per cent rise from the budget for the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2015. The trend reflects Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wish to build a more active military, with an eye on a possible escalation of tensions with China.

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