JAPAN justified increased defence spending today as necessary to combat the “military threat” of China.

The Defence Ministry’s annual report, released after approval by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet, said that China’s growing airspace and maritime activities have escalated tension.

It stressed the need for the Japanese military to play a greater role both inside and outside the country.

Tokyo voiced particular concern about Beijing’s recent establishment of an air defence identification zone that includes East China Sea islands claimed by both countries. 

Japan scrambled jets 400 times last year in response to Chinese military flights — up from about 300 a year earlier.

The report called the air defence identification zone China’s attempt to “unilaterally change the status quo, escalate the situation and may cause unintended consequences in the East China Sea.”

It also targeted North Korea’s improved long-range ballistic missile capability and miniaturisation of nuclear warheads, suggesting it could develop a sense of confidence over its strategic deterrence against the US, leading to an “escalation of military provocations by North Korea in the region.”

Japan’s military budget grew 2.2 per cent to 4.8 trillion yen (£27.7 billion) for 2014 over the previous year — the second successive year of increase since Mr Abe took office, after more than a decade of reductions.

Mr Abe’s government approved a reinterpretation of Japan’s war-renouncing constitution in July to let the military play a larger international role.

It adopted a new defence strategy last December, laying down a 5 per cent increase in military spending over five years.