Tokyo: A panel of experts set up by the Japanese government started discussions Friday on ways to drastically strengthen the country’s defense capabilities.

The panel will compile proposals before the government updates the country’s three key defense documents and assembles a fiscal 2023 budget later this year.

The focal points of discussion are whether to allow the country to possess counterstrike capabilities, how much defense spending should be increased and how to finance the increase, sources familiar with the situation said.

“In the severe security environment, we have to protect the lives and livelihoods of the public,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the panel’s inaugural meeting.

The prime minister said that he wants the panel to discuss how to secure the financial resources needed for strengthening the country’s defenses comprehensively.

The government plans to beef up Japan’s defense capabilities drastically within the next five years to counter threats from China and North Korea. Kishida has pledged to achieve a significant increase in defense spending.

The panel has 10 members, including former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Kenichiro Sasae, who chairs it, former Vice Defense Minister Tetsuro Kuroe, Yuri Okina, chair of Japan Research Institute Ltd., and Hiroshi Nakanishi, professor at Kyoto University.

At Friday’s meeting, no members expressed opposition to the government’s plan to drastically strengthen the country’s defense capabilities, according to the secretariat of the panel.

On the financial resources needed, some members said Japan should not rely on government bonds and that stopgap bonds could be used if backed by solid financial resources, according to the secretariat.

JIJI Press