TOKYO, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Japan's rising military budget exemplifies the Abe administration's ambition to expand military power while complying with the U.S. Asia-Pacific rebalance strategy, said well-known Japanese military critic Tetsuo Maeda in a recent interview with Xinhua.
"In face of the uncertainties brought by the new U.S. administration to be led by Donald Trump, such military expansion as prompted by the Abe administration, shows a very dangerous trend," he said.
The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe greenlighted on Thursday a record-high defense budget of 5.13 trillion yen (44 billion U.S. dollars), marking the fifth straight annual increase since Abe took office in 2012.
As Maeda saw it, the huge budget, with a large proportion of it allocated to buy state-of-the-art weaponry and equipment such as F-35 stealth fighters and V-22 Ospreys, far exceeds the need of a country that holds a purely defensive stance.
He also pointed out that Japan is speeding up the establishment of new forces, such as a Marine Corps-like amphibious force, and is considering introducing the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.
The country is now able to fight wars abroad with greater "military forces" as well as the newly-enacted security laws which are commonly called "war laws" in Japan, he said.
According to Maeda, Abe's so-called "active pacifism" is in essence a military stance with an aggressive nature.
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