Japan to up coast guard budget 1.4-fold as Senkaku tensions rise

Japan decided Friday to increase its coast guard budget to around 320 billion yen ($2.3 billion) in fiscal 2027, up 1.4-fold from the initial outlays in 2022, as tensions rise near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet said it will deepen coordination among the coast guard, police and the Self-Defense Forces as official Chinese vessels have repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters around the uninhabited islets that Beijing claims and calls Diaoyu.Kishida said at a ministerial meeting that the coast guard will be equi…READ FULL ARTICLE