Japan Cabinet Approves Third Straight Defense Boost
by VOA News January 14, 2015
Japan has announced its biggest defense budget ever, as it strives to respond to China's increasing military influence in the region, particularly in the East China Sea.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet on Wednesday approved a $42 billion budget, in the third straight year of budget increases, with the money slated to go for surveillance aircraft, drones, F-35 fighter jets, and amphibious assault vehicles.
The budget must be approved by Japan's legislators, but Abe has majority support in both houses.
Abe favors stronger defense spending as Japan.
Tokyo is in a territorial dispute with Beijing over a group of uninhabited islands called the Diaoyus in China and the Senkakus in Japan.
Japan's military spending is still dwarfed by China, whose military spending at $132 billion last year is second only to the United States.
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