TOKYO – Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has set several goals to bolster Japan’s deterrence capability. One of these goals is to increase the defence budget over the next five years to match the North Atlantic Treaty Organization target of 2 per cent of gross domestic product. Historically, Japan has limited its defence spending to within 1 per cent of GDP. Increasing the budget to 2 per cent will signal a historic shift in Japanese defence policy. No prominent objections to this goal exist within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, although there is debate over how Japan will achieve it. Kishida…