The Yomiuri Shinbun:
The first meeting to discuss new National Defense Program Guidelines (see below), scheduled to be drawn up by the government in December, was held by a task force of the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito in the Diet on Friday
The government intends to work out the new guidelines that will task the Self-Defense Forces to significantly strengthen its response capability in such areas as space and cyberspace. Taking into account the opinions of the ruling parties, the government aims to obtain Cabinet approval of the guidelines in mid-December.
“The security environment surrounding our country is far more severe than it was when the previous National Defense Program Guidelines were devised,” former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, an LDP lawmaker who chairs the task force, said during the meeting. “The two parties will work out [the guidelines] with the government’s proposals taken into thorough consideration.”
