Japan boosts defence spending 'in response to China'

The proposed 100bn yen (£710m) boost to Japanese defence spending announced on Tuesday - which in the first instance will go on anti-missile defences and the modernisation of a small number of fighter jets - looks to be a sure sign that the country's new more conservative government is set on bolstering its armed forces in response to an ever-more assertive China.

For the past decade or so Japanese defence spending has actually been gradually falling.

But Japan's strategic outlook has nonetheless been changing in fundamental ways ever since 2010, when the then government's defence plans spelt out that the potential threat from China was looming ever larger on Japan's radar.

Indeed the centre of gravity of the Japanese defence debate has been shifting for some time - pressing up against the constraints imposed by its post-war constitution.

Its armed forces are slowly becoming more expeditionary in nature.

Japanese warships have, for example, been involved in anti-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa.

And last year, for the first time since World War II, Japanese troops were involved in training other countries' armed forces, with Japanese military engineers being involved in Cambodia and East Timor.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20957487

Planned Updates to Southeast Asia’s Rail Network

Laos

has fewer than two miles of rail, linking the area of Vientiane, the capital, to Thailand, operated by the Thai government. Construction of a line that would link Vientiane to Kunming, China, is under consideration.

Vietnam
its nearly 2,000 miles of track are mostly functional, but outdated. Cargo trains run on average at about 30 miles per hour, according to a report by the Institute of Developing Economies, a research institute financed by Japan. Because of the slow speeds, much freight is delivered on trucks.

Cambodia
began rehabilitation of its two rail lines in 2009 after decades of neglect and plans to finish it by 2014. But delays, cost overruns and resettlement issues have put that deadline at risk. About 4,000 families who live on the currently unused tracks will have to be moved.

Myanmar
has been expanding its 3,300-mile rail network in recent years, but still has no links to its neighbors. A project to develop a deep-sea port in Dawei would eventually include a rail link to Bangkok, creating a shortcut between the region and Europe.

Thailand
has more than 2,500 miles of usable track and has recently announced plans to build four high-speed rail lines, including one to Nong Khai, near the Laotian border. Construction of a high-speed line from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is scheduled to start this year, using Chinese technology, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/01/world/asia/Planned-Updates-To-Southeast-Asias-Rail-Network.html

Bush fire in Australia

SYDNEY, Australia — Bush fires raging across some of the most populous parts of Australia — feeding off widespread drought conditions and high winds — pushed firefighters to their limits and residents to their wits’ end on Wednesday as meteorologists tracked the country’s hottest spring and summer on record into uncharted territory.


Four months of record-breaking temperatures stretching back to September 2012 have produced what the government says are “catastrophic” fire conditions along the eastern and southeastern coasts of the country, where the majority of Australians live.

Data analyzed on Wednesday by the government Bureau of Meteorology indicated that national heat records had again been set. Tuesday was the third hottest day in Australia since statistics began being kept in 1911, breaking a record set only the day before; the average temperature across the country was 40° Celsius (104° Fahrenheit). Meteorologists have had to add two new color bands to their forecast maps, extending their range up to 129° Fahrenheit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/world/asia/record-heat-fuels-widespread-fires-in-australia.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

Japan Japan PM orders stronger surveillance

(Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered his defense minister on Tuesday to strengthen surveillance around islands at the heart of a territorial feud with China, Kyodo news agency reported.

Deputy Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki summoned the Chinese ambassador earlier in the day to protest against an "incursion" by four Chinese maritime surveillance ships near the islands, officials said.

"I want you to respond firmly," Kyodo quoted Abe as telling Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera.

The ships entered the area around noon on Monday and left in the early hours of Tuesday, the officials said.

China's State Oceanic Administration confirmed four Chinese marine surveillance ships were patrolling waters near the islands.

But China routinely maintains such ships are in Chinese waters and a Chinese official accused Japan of intrusion.

India Pakistan firefight

(Reuters) - India denounced Pakistan on Wednesday over a firefight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two Indian soldiers were killed, but the nuclear-armed rivals both appeared determined to prevent the clash escalating into a full diplomatic crisis.

India summoned Pakistan's envoy in New Delhi to lodge a "strong protest", accusing a group of Pakistani soldiers it said had crossed the heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir of "barbaric and inhuman" behavior.

The body of one of the soldiers was found mutilated in a forested area on the side controlled by India, Rajesh K. Kalia, spokesman for the Indian army's Northern Command, said. However, he denied Indian media reports that one body had been decapitated and another had its throat slit.

Japan's New Cabinet

ON DECEMBER 26th the new prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, unveiled his cabinet. Mr Abe, an arch-nationalist, promises to focus on turning round an economy enduring its third recession in five years. He says he has learnt from his disastrous first term as prime minister, in 2006-07, when economic policymaking was distracted by needless spats over wartime guilt, and by a gaff-prone cabinet.

The question is whether Mr Abe (pictured, centre) can keep the government on-message. In picking his 19-member cabinet he has given reason to doubt that, in the long run, he even wants to.

http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21569046-shinzo-abes-appointment-scarily-right-wing-cabinet-bodes-ill-region-back-future