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2019 March 13 - 19 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Abe gov’t generously donates 300 million yen in Japanese people’s tax money to US military thinktank CSIS

The Abe government in the past six years donated nearly 300 million yen in tax money to a private U.S. thinktank for defense and national security, Akahata learned on March 13.

This thinktank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), publishes the so-called “Armitage-Nye Report” which makes policy proposals aimed to strengthen the Japan-U.S. military alliance. The latest report, which was released in October last year, called on Japan to increase its military budget to more than 1% of its total GDP.

Materials which Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Miyamoto Toru obtained from the Foreign Ministry show that the amount of donations given from the Japanese government to the CSIS between 2013 and 2018 totaled 299 million yen.

The amount of the Abe government’s contribution jumped to 34.3 million yen in 2015 compared with 2013 (7.8 million yen) and 2014 (8.9 million yen). On July 9, 2015, the CSIS-hosted symposium took place in Japan and Prime Minister Abe spoke as a guest speaker.

In 2016, the donation amount ballooned to 83 million yen.

On February 29 in that year, a research commission which was jointly established by the CSIS and the Japanese private thinktank Sasagawa Peace Foundation published a report titled “The U.S.-Japan Alliance to 2030 Power and Principle” which describes a vision of the alliance’s future.

The report recommended that leaders and opinion makers in the United States and Japan “need to strengthen and sustain public support in both countries for active international leadership, using the full range of foreign policy tools, including military capabilities when necessary.” The commission in its report also stated that the two nations must be willing to employ “fully-funded, modern, and highly capable military forces” in support of the creation and maintenance of the peaceful, secure, prosperous, and free world that they seek. This statement is tantamount to overt pressure for Japan’s use of armed force.

Among U.S. corporations offering generous contributions to the CSIS, there are many major defense companies, such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.

Past related articles:
> Abe gov't sells national sovereignty piece by piece [January 3, 2019]
> Trump presses Japan to buy more US weapons [November 8, 2017]
> Abe declares military buildup in line with Trump’s demand [March 3, 2017]