Japan's Defense Posture Review Interim Report of 26th July 2013 has attracted much favourable comment for its speed (six months after commissioning), timeliness (so quickly after the main report was published, it's responding to changing conditions) and brevity - the summary below, in a provisional translation, comes on two sides of paper.
Background
Given the following developments, the Government of Japan decided to review the National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG) by the end of 2013, and its Ministry of Defense (MOD) established the “Defense Posture Review Commission” in January 2013.
-The regional security environment has become more tense, as seen by China’s increasing activities in Japan’s vicinity as well as North Korea’s missile launches
-The U.S. is emphasizing its presence in the Asia-Pacific area in cooperation with allies including Japan
-Lessons from the Self Defence Force’s (SDF) activities following the Great East Japan Earthquake need to be addressed
-The Commission focused on development of joint operations and made an interim report about the directions and issues through its deliberations.
The main points are on the next page.
