Japan plans extra $2.1 bn in military spending

Japanplans to spend an extra $2.1 billion on missiles, fighter jets and helicopters, an official said Wednesday, as it tries to strengthen defence capabilities with concerns growing over a rising China.The cash injection over the next few months comes on top of regular military spending for 2012-13. It is separate from a request for a rise in the military budget for the next fiscal year which policymakers called for on Tuesday.

Japan is involved in a territorial tussle with China over a group of uninhabited islands. Nerves have also been rattled by an unpredictable North Korea, which sent a rocket over Japan's southern islands last month.

"We will request 180.5 billion yen to be allocated to military spending from a stimulus package," a defence ministry spokesman told AFP, adding that some of the money would be used to buy PAC-3 surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile systems and modernise four F-15 fighter jets.

The request for funds must be approved by the finance ministry before being officially included in the stimulus the government is set to announce later this month, reportedly worth 13.1 trillion yen for this fiscal year to March.

The stimulus will be part of a supplementary budget the government is preparing for this fiscal year. The budget is expected to allocate about 30 billion yen more to the defence ministry, in addition to the 180.5 billion.

Defence officials could not immediately confirm the report, but a spokesman said "it is extremely rare for Japan's defence forces to fire a warning shot against a foreign military force".
On Tuesday Tokyo summoned the Chinese ambassador for the first time under the new nationalist government to "strongly protest" against the presence of official ships in waters around disputed islands.