Japan considers record military spending in 2017 in response to growing threats

The Japanese parliament is preparing to consider the fifth consecutive increase to Japan's military budget in the last five years, a testament to the growing threats it is surrounded by, UPI news reports.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved a 1.5 percent increase in his country's defense budget, increasing military expenditures for 2017 to about $44 billion as tensions increase with China over disputed islands in the East China Sea and North Korea's missile tests get ever closer to the island nation's coasts.

New budget will take effect in 2017.