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| ATD-X Shinshin, Japan's home-grown experimental Stealth Fighter |
The inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump has sparked debate on whether Japan should increase its defense spending.
Japan has kept its defense outlays at about 1 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). However, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) could intensify its calls for an increase in such spending if President Trump, who calls on U.S. allies to increase their financial burdens associated with U.S. forces stationed in their territories, were to demand Tokyo expand its security role.
A tug-of-war will likely intensify between the LDP and the fiscal authority over the issue as the government is scheduled to draw up the next mid-term defense program (fiscal 2019-2023) in late 2018.
In 1976, the Cabinet of then Prime Minister Takeo Miki decided to keep Japan's defense spending at 1 percent of Japan's gross national product or below to prevent Japan from becoming a major military power. The ceiling was removed in fiscal 1987 under the administration of then Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and replaced by a system under which the total amount of defense outlays is limited in the mid-term defense program.
Read the full story at The Mainichi