TOKYO: Japan will raise military spending this year for the first time in over a decade under a ruling party plan, an official said on Tuesday, as Tokyo summoned Beijing’s envoy in a territorial row.

The national defence task force of the newly-elected Liberal Democratic Party will increase the defence budget request by more than 100 billion yen ($1.15 billion) in response to an emboldened China, a party official said.

The relatively small amount — just over two per cent of the total military budget — is largely symbolic, but reflects anxiety at what Japan sees as an increasingly hostile region in which China appears happy to throw its weight about.

“We have decided that the additional budget will be used for research into a new radar system as well as fuel and other maintenance costs for early-warning aircraft,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The news came as the foreign ministry called in China's ambassador to protest at the latest dispatch of official vessels into waters around the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.

The summons was the first under nationalistic Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and is in line with the tough stance he pushed on China on the campaign trail in December.

Beijing, however, rebuffed the move. Hong Lei, spokesman for China's foreign ministry, told reporters in Beijing patrols were “normal” because the islands are Chinese territory.

Nerves in Tokyo have also been rattled by an unpredictable North Korea. It sent a rocket over Japan’s southern islands last month in what it insisted was a satellite launch. Tokyo and its allies said the launch was a covert ballistic missile test.

The military is bound by the country's US-imposed pacifist constitution, which restricts its ability to project power or to wage aggressive war.

However, commentators say it is a modern, well-funded and well-equipped force.

In the run-up to last month's election, the LDP pledged to expand the number of personnel in the Self-Defence Forces and boost their equipment and spending power. The proposed increase in funding comes after declines over 10 consecutive years as Tokyo grappled with its huge public debt.

The initial defence budget for fiscal 2012, which ends in March, stood at 4.65 trillion yen. This compares with a budget for fiscal 2002 that peaked at 4.94 trillion yen.—AFP