Japan to shift defense focus: official

By Li Ying

Japan should improve its defensive capabilities in its southwest, where border issues with China exist, Tokyo's vice defense minister, Jun Azumi, told Reuters Wednesday.

"Our attention was on the north during the Cold War, but we have to shift our focus to the defense of the southwest. ... The most important step to strengthen our defense over the next 10 years is to secure the mobility (of our troops)," Azumi said.

He noted that China's military expansion has added to instability in the region.

Yang Bojiang, the director of Japanese studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that this so-called China-threat is only an excuse for the Japanese to rationalize their adoption of a more proactive military policy.

Japan is updating its National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG) for release by the end of the year, amid heightened regional tensions following North Korea's deadly artillery shelling of a South Korean island last month.

That will be the first revision in six years, and the first under the Democratic Party of Japan government, which swept to power last year.

"Updating the NDPG with some proactive policies fits Tokyo's ambition to play a more important role on the global stage. An emerging China and the situation on the Korean Peninsula give Japanese politicians perfect reasons for expanding their military," Yang said.

"However, Japan won't be happy with the result of hyping the alleged China-threat, as deteriorated relations with Beijing bring no benefit to the country as it is still recovering from the financial crisis," Yang added.

Sino-Japanese relations hit their lowest point in recent years after two Japanese patrol boats collided with a Chinese trawler in September near the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

During talks with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in Brussels in October, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated that the Diaoyu Islands are an inherent part of the Chinese territory, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Regarding the new NDPG, Yang said Tokyo is likely to seek a more self-dependent defense scheme that will not be entirely dependent on the US.

Meanwhile, Azumi also mentioned that it is necessary for Japan to cut costs and revise its weapons exports ban that has kept the nation's defense industry from taking part in multinational projects, Reuters reported.

Agencies contributed to this story