UPI Asia:
Japan alarmed by China’s military buildup

By HIROYUKI KOSHOJI
UPI Correspondent

TOKYO, Japan — Japan’s Defense Ministry, in its annual white paper released last Friday, expressed alarm over China’s fast-paced military modernization, pointing out for the first time that the country had stepped into militarizing space and had boosted its cyber warfare ability.

The report, endorsed by the Japanese Cabinet, is a clear indication of Japan’s displeasure with China’s military build-up and cites new reasons for the rise in China’s defense spending. The reason for China to modernize its military capabilities is to prevent any aggression from Taiwan including any support for its independence by foreign troops, the report said.

Early this year, China announced its defense budget of US$58.8 billion for 2008, which is 17.6 percent higher compared to the previous year. It is the 20th consecutive double-digit increase in defense spending, surpassing Japan’s defense budget of $44.3 billion for 2008. However, a Pentagon study on China’s military buildup estimates China’s real military spending to be two to three times higher than its official report because it does not include the development costs for new weapons or purchases of advanced weapons from foreign countries.

Japan’s latest defense report says that China has deployed new DF-31A intercontinental ballistic missiles, which have a range of 6,200 miles and is developing new Ju Lang-2 or JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles. To load JL-2, it is now constructing a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. “If China puts JL-2 to practical use in addition to the already deployed DF-31A, its strategic nuclear force will be considerably upgraded,” the report said.

Besides, the report also mentions China developing new anti-ship ballistic missiles based on the DF-21 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which has already been deployed. China also possesses more than a hundred H-6 nuclear-capable medium-range bombers, it warned.

The report also mentions China’s growing military capabilities in space. “It has also been pointed out that China is developing an instrument that uses lasers to hamper the functions of satellites,” it said.

However, Japanese military analysts have pointed some drawbacks in China’s growing military arsenal such as lack of high-tech global positioning system guided missiles, precision-guided bombs, stealth weapons, Aegis destroyers, surveillance drones and high-resolution intelligent satellites.

According to the report, to close the gap on other military superpowers such as the United States, believed to have the world’s strongest military troops, China is enhancing its cyber warfare ability by experimenting on a host of computer viruses and other Internet technologies designed to freeze enemy command structures. “China appears to possess interest in the cyber warfare as they seem to be currently organizing and training a special cyber warfare unit,” it warned.

The report highlights China’s growing military threat by revealing events in 2007 when China took aggressive and threatening positions by piloting aircrafts near the Japan-China median line. Some H-6 medium-range bombers flew into the Japanese air defense identification zone over the East China Sea in September last year, when negotiations between both countries remained deadlocked over issues related to natural gas fields in the East China Sea. Disagreement prevails between the two countries on the sea boundary, which divides their territories in the gas-rich zone.

Regarding North Korea, the report emphasized that nuclear weapons were still a threat, as that country had not showed any intent to completely abandon its arsenal of nuclear weapons despite international pressure, especially from the United States. “It is difficult to eliminate the possibility that North Korea, in a relatively short time, has realized the downsizing of nuclear weapons and deployment of nuclear warheads,” it said.

Territorial disputes over islands between Japan and South Korea known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea also made it to Japan’s annual military report. Despite its close and friendly ties with South Korea the report defended Japan’s rights to the islands. “Japan also confronts unresolved territorial disputes over the Northern Territories and Takeshima, both of which are integral parts of Japanese territory,” it said.

September 08, 2008

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 11:03 pm and is filed under Dispute between Japan & Korea. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.