Current Affairs
Japanese Cabinet approved Defense White Paper 2015
The Japanese Cabinet on 21 July 2015 approved the Defense White Paper for the year 2015. In the White Paper 2015, the cabinet described the security situation surrounding Japan as increasingly tough. The defense white paper for 2015 examines a range of global threats.
The annual paper was approved after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party rejected a draft version as it had failed to contain any reference to China’s construction of offshore platform in the East China Sea.
Highlights of the Defence White Paper 2015
- In this 400-plus page document, Japan demanded China to stop the construction of a new offshore platform that could be used for military purposes in the East China Sea (ECS).
- Japan also criticized China for its military spending, saying it is now 41 times higher than in fiscal year 1989.
- It referred to successful test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile by Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, claiming that its nuclear tests pose a significant threat to Japan’s security.
- It also pointed to the conflict between Russia and the United States and Europe over the crisis in Ukraine, as well as Moscow’s increased military activity in the Asia-Pacific, Arctic, Europe and near mainland of the United States. Japan released its first white paper on defense in 1970 and has been compiling new versions of the Defense White Paper every year since 1976.