Japan to boost defense: report

By Wang Zhaokun

Japan is considering enlarging its Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) by 13,000 to 168,000 soldiers to strengthen its ability to deal with the security situation in East Asia, the Kyodo News Agency reported Monday.

Sources in Japan's Ministry of Defense told Kyodo that the ministry is hoping to incorporate the plan in the new national defense program outline that is expected to be formulated at the end of the year for implementation in the next fiscal year.

The sources said the plan is a response to a request from the Ground Staff Office that believes the defense of southwestern Japanese islands should be reinforced because the Chinese navy has become more active in the area.

The expansion of the GSDF, the first since 1972, will focus on the islands in the Okinawa Prefecture, the report added.

The reported expansion of the GSDF came amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Tokyo after the captain of a Chinese fishing boat was detained by Japan in waters off the Diaoyu Islands.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Sunday that China had suspended high-level exchanges with Japan after a Japanese court au-thorized prosecutors to extend the detention of the captain by 10 days.

Japan Monday called for China to act calmly so that the diplomatic spat will not escalate, and said it had not yet been officially informed of the severing of ties.

Liu Jiangyong, a professor of Sino-Japanese relations at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times that it is very likely that Japan deliberately provoked China by detaining the captain of the fishing boat so as to create a favorable excuse for its military reinforcement and the revision of its national defense program.

"Japan is facing tight fiscal conditions. A military expansion during this period of time may not be welcomed by many Japanese people because of its huge cost," Liu said. "To invoke China's threat is definitely a good way to divert attention. It is foreseeable that Japan will emphasize its strategy in regions close to China in the new national defense program outline."

Noriyuki Shikata, spokesman for Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, said Monday that Beijing had informed Tokyo through the Japanese embassy in Beijing that it would postpone an invitation of 1,000 young Japanese to visit the Shanghai Expo.

According to Reuters, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Kan will both attend the UN General Assembly meetings this week in New York, but will probably not meet.

Also Monday, US Vice President Joe Biden said at the US-Japan Council's annual conference in Tokyo that US efforts to improve ties with China must "go through Tokyo," in a warm message to its key ally Japan.

Agencies contributed to this story