Tokyo may make parts of its defense guidelines secret in the wake of China, Russia “threats,” Kyodo News says
Japan is considering partially classifying its chief defense document in the wake of “security threats by China and Russia,” Kyodo News reported on Saturday, citing government sources.
Making the National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG), the country’s 10-year military buildup policy, secret would be in line with the mostly classified US National Defense Strategy and would allow Tokyo to be “more specific” in making contingency plans involving North Korea, the sources told the Japanese news agency. The government in Tokyo will review the current defense guidelines, which are publicly available, by the end of the year, focusing on whether Japan can acquire weapons to launch counterstrikes on enemy bases, Kyodo News wrote.
The matter is a sensitive issue, given Japan’s defense-oriented constitution that explicitly renounces war.
“Having a document similar to the [US] National Defense Strategy is requisite,” a lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was quoted as saying.
On Wednesday, the LDP proposed revising Japan’s most important defense and diplomacy documents amid what it described as an “increasingly severe” security environment. The lawmakers specifically urged the government to develop “counterstrike capabilities” and consider roughly doubling the defense budget to 2% or more of GDP, Japanese media said.
According to the Japan Times, the party cited Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, and China’s military activities near Taiwan.
The LDP also wants to update the National Security Strategy and the medium-term five-year military buildup program. The proposals have been submitted to the country’s defense minister and prime minister.
In December, Japan approved a hike in military spending, with the defense budget for the fiscal year 2022 totaling 5.4 trillion yen ($47.2 billion).
For the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has focused global attention on the impact of vaccines in fighting the virus. During World Immunization Week, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been raising awareness of the crucial role immunization has played in reducing or eliminating a host of deadly diseases.
The UN’s Humanitarian Country Team in Yemen on Saturday, released its Response Plan (HRP) for this year, seeking nearly $4.3 billion to reverse a steady deterioration across the country, the grinding war there continues, despite a current pause in fighting.
Islamabad reiterates commitment to Gates’ public-health initiatives in second call this week
The influential chief of the Pakistani Army, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, has held a phone conversation with billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, reassuring him that Islamabad is committed to working with the Microsoft co-founder’s foundation on eradicating polio and other global health initiatives.
In a phone call that took place on Friday, Gates praised the Pakistan Army for “supporting the country’s polio drive and ensuring proper reach and coverage,” while Bajwa said that “credit goes to all involved in the process,” according to a Saturday statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations.
Gates also commended Pakistan’s efforts in battling the Covid-19 pandemic, as Bajwa again attributed it to a “true national response” by multiple agencies. The army chief applauded Gates’ global health efforts, and reportedly assured the philanthropist of “continued cooperation.”
On Tuesday, the country’s newly elected prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, also had a phone conversation with the billionaire philanthropist, receiving reassurances that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) will continue supporting Pakistan’s government to help ensure that no child is at risk of being paralyzed by polio.
The country had gone more than a year without a single new polio case – a feat that Gates hailed after traveling to Islamabad to meet with Pakistan’s then-Prime Minister Imran Khan in February – but in April officials confirmed two new infections in 15 months.
Pakistan’s parliament elected Sharif as prime minister last month, after Khan was ousted in a no-confidence motion. Khan had claimed that his cabinet was overthrown in a plot arranged by the US and that Pakistan was being handed over to an “imported government led by crooks.”
Pakistan has endured an uphill battle to inoculate children against polio, partly because of anti-vaccination conspiracies. Militants have targeted public-health workers, and the police protecting them, to disrupt vaccine drives. A female worker administering polio shots in northwestern Pakistan was shot and killed in March.
