Japan is planning to develop a new tactical ballistic missile that would challenge Chinese military strategy around disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Plans for the surface-to-ship weapon, which would be the longest-range missile ever built by Japan, have emerged after months of rancour between Tokyo and Beijing over rival territorial claims.
As tensions have persisted, Japan revealed last month that it had scrambled fighter jets a record 199 times in the second quarter as Chinese military activities intensified around Japan’s territorial waters and drew closer to the Senkakus — a chain of uninhabited islets known as the Diaoyu in China.