Japan to double defense spending to ¥70–80 trillion under new security docs, China warns

The headline number is fiscal, but the strategic signal is in the capability mix: long-range strike and unmanned combat point to a force posture built for reach rather than territorial defense, which is harder to frame as purely defensive. Beijing's decision to preview the documents publicly, weeks before cabinet approval, suggests it intends to contest the framing before the spending is locked in — making the December approval a test of how much regional pushback shapes the final text. Whether the doubling survives intact through that process is the open question.