Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan would lift defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP by March – well ahead of her party’s earlier timelines. Photo: AFP

    Beijing bristles as Japan weighs missile export to Philippines

    Tokyo is considering exporting a missile system to the Philippines as it seeks to ease its weapons-export restrictions, Japanese media reported – a move likely to draw criticism from Beijing. The missile system, dubbed Type 03 Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile, is of the same type that Tokyo plans to deploy on Yonaguni, an island only 110…

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    Beijing blasts Japan’s ‘extremely dangerous’ missile deployment near Taiwan

    Beijing blasts Japan’s ‘extremely dangerous’ missile deployment near Taiwan

    Beijing has blasted Japan’s missile deployment on an island only 110km (68 miles) away from Taiwan as “extremely dangerous”, saying it stokes regional tensions and military confrontation amid deteriorating ties between the two Asian powers. But Shinjiro Koizumi, Tokyo’s defence minister, believed the deployment on Yonaguni Island would “reduce the likelihood of any armed attack…

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