Japan’s Coast Guard has sought a 68 percent increase in its budget to buy additional boats and planes to boost patrolling in the East China Sea and Senkaku Islands, the coastal defense agency said in a statement today.
The coast guard plans to spend 24.2 billion yen ($201 million) on new patrol vessels and airplanes and on increasing inspection in the year ending March 2007. Next year’s plans include buying 21 new patrol ships, 3 airplanes and 4 helicopters, the statement released in Tokyo said.
The Sankei newspaper today said the coast guard will spend 350 billion yen during the seven years starting April 2006 to conduct more patrols, including 24-hour monitoring, in the East China Sea and around Okinotorishima Island, the nation’s southernmost island.
Quite a turn considering that the JMSDF has been slowly downsizing over the last decade, thanks to the end of the Cold War and a perceived lack of nearby threats. Assuming this budget increase is approved by the government, it could signal that Japan’s Asia policy is harder than just uncompromising words. They’ve got seaman ship, too!