TOKYO (AFP): Japan's ruling party wants to loosen self-imposed rules banning arms exports in a bid to boost the country's defence influence, a report said Wednesday, a move that would mark a major shift from its pacifism and could irritate China.
A draft document that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants approved by his cabinet next month would allow Tokyo to supply weaponry to nations that sit along important sea lanes to help them fight piracy, Kyodo News said, an important step for a country like Japan which depends so heavily on mineral imports.
This would mean nations such as Indonesia, but could also include others around the South China Sea -- through which fossil fuels pass -- such as the Philippines, for example, which has a territorial dispute with Beijing.
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