The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved an increase in defense spending for the fifth year in a row on Thursday.
If approved by lawmakers, the increase will raise Japan's military spending to record levels as the country seeks to counter China's growing presence in the East China Sea and threats from North Korea. It will also be the fifth year in a row that Japan has boosted its spending on defense.
The 1.4 percent increase will raise defense spending to 5.1 trillion yen, equivalent to $44 billion, for the fiscal year beginning in April, according to the Wall Street Journal. Abe's Liberal Democratic Party holds control of the Japanese parliament, meaning that the defense budget boost is likely to be approved.
Tensions between Japan and China have risen over the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, where Chinese vessels have made incursions at an increasing frequency. Japan also faces threats from North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear tests.
"The security environment surrounding Japan is becoming ever more severe," Japanese defense minister Tomomi Inada said at a news briefing this week.
The new budget would significantly increased defense research spending from 600 million yen to 11 billion yen, and would also allocate 73 billion yen for a new submarine with improved sonar capabilities.
Japan has historically spent less than other countries on defense, and the expected increase will still put the country's military spending around 1 percent of gross domestic product. The military budget of the United States, in comparison, is roughly 3 percent of its GDP, or nearly $600 billion, making it the largest global spender on defense.