BY LINDA
SIEG AND KIYOSHI TAKENAKA
TOKYO Tue Dec 17, 2013 4:55am EST
(Reuters) -
Japan will boost its
military spending in coming years, buying early-warning planes, beach-assault
vehicles and troop-carrying aircraft, while seeking closer ties with Asian
partners to counter a more militarily assertive China .
The planned
2.6 percent increase over five years, announced on Tuesday, reverses a decade
of decline and marks the clearest sign since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took
office a year ago that he wants a bigger military role for Japan as tension
flares with China over islands they both claim.