> adding to that expense is Japan's need to increase its defense spending to provide a small measure of balance in its territorial disputes with its neighbor J

> adding to that expense is Japan's need to increase its defense spending to provide a small measure of balance in its territorial disputes with its neighbor Japan's military spending is 7th or 8th largest in the world, depending on who's measuring it. [1] Any conflict with China that actually goes beyond posturing is going to be a small scale skirmish. If that happened both countries would rapidly seek to de-escalate (behind the scenes). The two economies are too closely linked for either country to want full scale war. Their existing military is already more than adequate to deal with any small scale skirmishes. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_e...