TOKYO
\nJapan on Tuesday scrapped a ban on lethal weapons exports, a major change in its postwar pacifist policy as the country seeks to build up its arms industry amid worries over Chinese and North Korean aggression.
\nThe approval by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi\u2019s Cabinet of the new guideline clears a final set of hurdles for many arms sales, including of a next-generation fighter jet and combat drones. China criticized the change in policy, but it has been largely welcomed by Japanese defense partners like Australia and attracted interest from Southeast Asia and Europe.
\nOpponents say the change violates Japan\u2019s pacifist constitution and will increase global tensions and threaten the safety of the Japanese people. The new policy will \u201censure safety for Japan and further contribute to the peace and stability in the region and the international society as the security environment around our country rapidly changes,\u201d Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters.
\n\u201cThe government will strategically promote defense equipment transfers to create a security environment that is desirable for Japan and to build up the industrial base that can support fighting resilience.\u201d Japan could start selling weapons like fighter jets, missiles and destroyers
\nJapan has long prohibited most arms exports under its post-World War II pacifist constitution. It has made recent changes because of rising global and regional tensions, but exports were limited to five areas: rescue, transport, alerts, surveillance and minesweeping.
\nThe new guidelines scrap those limits and allows the export of equipment such as fighter jets, missiles and destroyers. That\u2019s a major change from existing exports such as flak jackets, gas masks and civilian-use vehicles that Japan has sent to Ukraine and intelligence radars sold to the Philippines.
\nFor now, such exports will be limited to 17 countries that have signed defense equipment and technology transfer agreements with Japan. They also must be approved by the National Security Council, and the government will monitor how the weapons are managed afterward. In principle, Japan still will not export lethal weapons to countries that are at war.
\nJapan began to export some non-lethal military supplies in 2014, and in December 2023 it approved a change that would allow sales of dozens of lethal weapons and components that it manufactures under licenses from other countries back to the licensors, clearing the way for Japan to sell US-designed Patriot missiles to America to make up for munitions that Washington sent to Ukraine.
\nThe 2023 revision also paved the way for Japan to jointly develop a sixth-generation fighter jet with Britain and Italy, and for Japan\u2019s biggest arms deal ever, which was formalized last week with Australia. It calls for Japan to deliver the first three of a $6.5 billion fleet of Japanese-designed frigates for the Australian navy and jointly build eight others in that country. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOKYO Japan on Tuesday scrapped a ban on lethal weapons exports, a major change in its postwar pacifist policy as the country seeks to build up its arms industry amid worries over Chinese and North Korean aggression. The approval by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi\u2019s Cabinet of the new guideline clears a final set of hurdles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-543163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n