Japan’s new defense strategy may strengthen “sustained combat capabilities”

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its governing partner, the Japan Reform Association, plan to hold the first business-level consultation meeting as soon as the 10th to promote the revision of the "Three Security Documents" within the year. On the eve of this critical consultation, Kyodo News quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the Japanese government was considering clearly writing content to strengthen "sustained combat capabilities" in the "National Defense Strategy." Related trends have caused controversy and concern.

It is reported that the Japanese Ministry of Defense has stated that ensuring and maintaining "sustained combat capabilities" sufficient to cope with long-term wars has become a topic. It is necessary to reserve relevant military supplies in peacetime and establish a post-war production increase mechanism. It is expected that the new version of the National Defense Strategy will expand the Japanese government’s participation in the defense industry, including injecting capital into the defense industry and holding important weapons and equipment production plants by the government.

There are different opinions within the Japanese government on whether to clearly include the expression "continuous combat capability". Some people worry that this may make the outside world think that the Japanese government is formulating security policies based on war.

It is worth mentioning that the higher-level National Security Strategy among the three security documents will not use the expression "continuous combat capabilities", but will tend to use "continuous response capabilities." It is understood that this concept covers a wider scope, including strengthening energy and food supply chains and infrastructure construction.

Urgent revision of "Three Security Documents" highlights Japan's military expansion intentions

Japan’s “Three Security Documents” refer to the three documents: National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy and Defense Force Preparation Plan. When the "Three Security Documents" were reviewed and approved in 2022, they were considered to mark a major shift in Japan's security policy from defensive to offensive since the end of World War II. The outside world generally believes that the Japanese government is now intensively promoting this revision, which is a key step in continuing to hollow out the post-war "exclusive defense" principle.

Since the revision was launched, relevant actions have continued to advance. On April 27 this year, the Japanese government held its first expert meeting to promote the revision of the "Three Security Documents". Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae proposed at the meeting that Japan should promote its ability to deal with "new combat methods" and prepare for a long-term war.

On June 9, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan adopted the draft proposal for revising the "Three Security Documents" that the party plans to submit to the Japanese government. The content of the draft is radical, including significantly increasing defense expenses and vigorously developing offensive military forces.

On September 23, news from Japan stated that the "Three Security Documents" to be revised at the end of this year will focus on the comprehensive application of artificial intelligence in building defense capabilities. The draft of the "Defense Force Readiness Plan" even proposes to purchase more than 50,000 unmanned equipment.

On October 7, Japanese news stated that the Japanese government will consider including relevant content on "exploring the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines" in the "Three Security Documents" revised at the end of this year.