Arms for peace

Tokyo has announced plans to ease its export ban on arms. The move is expected to bolster Japan's weapons industry and give the country more room on the international weapons platform while enabling the country to cut its defense spending.

Under the new standards, Japan hopes to "transport military equipment for missions of peace-building and international cooperation," Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told reporters. "This will mean that Japan can now address international peace cooperation and global challenges such as terrorism and piracy more proactively and effectively," Gemba said, AFP reports.

Easing the ban will also help "strengthen the alliance with the US," says Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, who also highlighted the need to "cooperate with other defense partners as well" and to "acquire the most advanced defense technology to upgrade the capability of Japanese defense industry."

The ban has been in place since 1967. In the Cold War, then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato vowed that Tokyo would not sell armaments to communist states or ones involved in international conflicts or under embargoes.

But the new rules will allow the country to engage in the development and production of arms jointly with the US and European countries and also to export equipment for peaceful and humanitarian purposes such as UN peace-keeping operations, as reported by AFP.

Despite the ban, Japan has worked closely with the US on the development of arms technology in the past. Supporters of lifting the ban argue that it has left the country behind others, such as China. Skeptics believe it may cause trouble in the region, where Japan's role in World War II has not been forgotten.

Author: Sarah Berning (AP, AFP)
Editor: Arun Chowdhury