Japan's revised National Defense Strategy will call for raising joint Japanese-US "denial capability" to block an adversary's invasion, expanding cooperation on production bases and deepening ties with like-minded countries, government sources said.
The basic guidelines for strengthening defense, to be written into the strategy among the three security-related documents the government is revising, were confirmed by multiple government officials on the 10th, Kyodo News reported.
The Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai have begun working-level talks aimed at the year-end revision. Nuclear policy is set to dominate the debate, including the three non-nuclear principles — the national policy of not possessing, producing or permitting nuclear weapons on Japanese soil — and the question of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.
A new defense spending target and its funding sources will also be on the table.
Security strategy frames six shifts
The outline of the National Security Strategy, which sits above the defense strategy, has also emerged. It declares that the international community has entered a period of fundamental transformation and cites "six transformations" in the security environment, including the weaponization of the economy.