TOKYO - Japan is considering including a commitment to strengthening its "capabilities to deny" an adversary's aggression in coordination with the United States in a key defense policy document to be revised later this year, government sources said Tuesday.
The basic guidelines for the National Defense Strategy will also call for expanded Japan-U.S. cooperation to strengthen the defense industrial base and deeper security ties with like-minded countries, the sources said.
The National Security Strategy, the highest-ranking of the three documents slated for revision by year-end, is likely to describe the world as entering a period of fundamental transformation, the sources said, citing a draft outline.
The document is also expected to outline "six changes" in the security environment, including the weaponization of economic interdependence, the sources added.
The planned revisions of the three documents, which also include the Defense Buildup Program, will take place under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, known for her hawkish stance on national security, amid China's growing assertiveness, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs.
Earlier on Tuesday, Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, launched working-level talks on the three papers, which were last updated in 2022.
