An American Tomahawk missile (Wikimedia Commons)

Japan will acquire 400 Tomahawk missiles of the United States, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Monday, as the archipelago seeks to increase its defenses against Chinese threats in the region.

“Our country’s plan is (to acquire) 400 units” of these cruise missilesKishida told the budget committee of the lower house of parliament, without giving further details.

A few days ago, the Minister of Defense said that Japan set aside $1.5 billion to purchase missiles in the next fiscal yearafter years of cutting these types of acquisitions.

The Japanese government presented in December a major defense reformBy which will double the budget of the post to 2% of GDP by 2027, and named China as “the greatest strategic challenge” for the security of the country.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised fears that the Asian giant will do something similar in Taiwan, a self-governing, democratic island claimed by Beijing.

This is an important turning point for the Japanese archipelago, whose pacifist Constitution, adopted after its defeat in the Second World War, forbids it in principle to have a full-fledged army.

In addition, the region is on high alert after the launch of many strategic cruise missiles by North Koreaa series of provocations from Pyongyang that raised fears of a possible nuclear test for the first time since 2017. Kim Jong-un’s missiles were launched in the Sea of ​​Japan, the official news agency said. KCNA.

North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile into the Sea of ​​Japan

After its approval, the United States believed that Japan’s defense policy reform would “strengthen and modernize” the military alliance with Washington, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

While Japan once called for better relations and cooperation with Russia, Tokyo is now warning that Moscow’s military posture in Asia and cooperation with China are “a major security issue”. Japan joined its Western allies in imposing sanctions on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine, deeply freezing relations.

(With information from AFP)

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