By KOJI SONODA
SINGAPORE--Despite Japanese objections to France's military equipment sales to China and Russia, Japan has agreed to hold official talks on joint weapons development with France.
Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on June 2 met with his French counterpart on the sidelines of the Asia Security Summit here. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian showed a strong interest in Japanese weapons-related technology, and proposed that the two nations jointly develop military weapons and equipment.
Onodera and Le Drian agreed that Japan and France will begin talks aimed at hammering out an agreement to carry out joint arms development, beginning with the bilateral summit scheduled for June 7 in Tokyo.
“I think there is no difference with France in our thinking on this,” Onodera told reporters after the meeting with Le Drian, showing his support for joint arms development efforts.
However, France’s recent arms exports to China and planned sales to Russia, upset Japan and prompted Onodera to question his French counterpart.
Read the full story at The Asahi Shimbun