By Shannon Tiezzi
Japan’s decision to allow more arms exports leads to caution and suspicion in China.
On Tuesday, Japan announced a relaxation of its long-held restrictions on arms exports. Under the original “Three Principle on Arms Exports,” Japan was not permitted to export arms to any “communist bloc countries,” to countries under arms embargos by the UN Security Council, or to any countries “involved in or likely to be involved in international conflicts.” As my colleague Ankit wrote earlier, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been pushing for a change to these regulations as part of his policy of “proactive pacifism.”
The new policy allows Japan to export arms and participate in joint weapons development and production when such moves will serve international peace and Japan’s security. The requirement to serve international peace is obviously vague and open to fairly broad interpretation by Tokyo. Japan is expected to focus most of its exports on non-lethal, defense-oriented equipment, but there is already speculation that the new policy will allow Japan to join in production of the United States’ new F-35 fighter jets. Japan’s Defense Ministry has proposed that Japan serve as the Asia-Pacific maintenance hub for F-35s.
Predictably, the United States praised the move by its ally to loosen restrictions on arms exports. State Department Deputy Press Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters, “We welcome this revised Japanese policy on defense equipment exports. It expands opportunities and simplifies processes for defense industry cooperation with the U.S. and other partner nations.” Harf added that the changes will “allow Japan to modernize its defense industry and processes so it can participate in the 21st century global acquisition marketplace.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat