Japan Ups Defense Budget to Cope with China

Japan will raise its defense spending by 5% in order to contend with the growing challenges to its security posed by China:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/japan-security-plan-focuses-island-disputes-21242181

"Isolationism was very convenient and comfortable, but now China is rising rapidly and the U.S. commitment to Asia is not growing, so maybe we should be a little more proactive," said Michishita, who helped develop the previous defense guidelines in 2010.

As we can see, the situation is changing quite rapidly, so that the geopolitical picture may look radically different in the years ahead.