INTERNATIONAL: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government on Friday has approved record defence spending, with a 10th straight annual increase in 2022, against a backdrop of China's rapid military expansion and North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

The budget for the fiscal year starting April 1 will rise 1.1% to $47.18 billion, still less than a quarter of China's military budget this year according to official Beijing data.

The higher spending plan follows a meeting in April between the U.S. President Joe Biden and Japan's then-premier Yoshihide Suga, in which Suga has pledged to strengthen his country's defence capability in light of a more challenging regional security environment.

Tensions over Chinese-claimed Taiwan have risen as President Xi Jinping seeks to assert his country's sovereignty claims on the island. Taiwan's government says it wants peace, but will defend itself if needed.

The defence ministry is also setting aside almost $800 million in next year's budget to develop its first new domestic jet fighter in three decades. The project, expected to be completed in the 2030s, is being led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.