Eighty percent of the Japanese population would be against raising taxes to finance a substantial increase in military spending like the one proposed by the government, according to a survey by the Kyodo News.

In general, the population does support improving the country’s defensive means, but only 19 % support Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s plan to finance part of that spending with tax increases. The study is based on 1,959 interviews with people over the age of 18 carried out between March 7 and April 17.

In December Kishida announced an increase of more than 50 % in military spending to 43 trillion yen (almost 289,000 million euros) within five years and thus reach military spending of 2 % of GDP by 2027.

Nearly 60 percent of the population consider the plan “not appropriate” and 88 % believe Kishida’s justification is “insufficient.”

When questioned about the main reason for their rejection of the increase in taxes for military expenses, 48 ​​% answered that “because the people cannot bear more taxes.”

On the possibility of Chinese offensive action against Taiwan, 53 % say they are “extremely concerned” and 36 % say they are “somewhat concerned.”

Regarding Japan’s desirable response in the event of an invasion of Taiwan, 56 percent advocate diplomatic steps and non-military measures, such as economic sanctions. Some 33 % believe that Japan should give logistical support to the United States if it defends the island.

On the other hand, 61 % support the government’s decision to gain counterattack capacity to attack targets within enemy territory, with which Tokyo intends to gain deterrence power. However, 36 % of the population is against it and 60 % believe that it contributes to an arms race with neighboring countries.

Source: dpa

(Reference image source: Jun Rong Loo, Unsplash)

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