Japan yesterday revised its foreign aid charter to allow funding of non-military operations of other country’s armed forces as part of its drive for a bigger role in global security.
The charter repeated Japan’s long-standing policy that foreign aid should not be used for military purposes, but added that aid for armed forces’ non-military operations such as disaster relief should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Tokyo has previously extended such aid, but it is the first time such a policy has explicitly been stated in Japan’s foreign aid charter, a foreign ministry official said.
The stance has raised concerns that Japan’s overseas aid could, in fact, end up funding foreign military activities.
“The government says its aid is only for such purposes as post-disaster rescue. Let’s say trucks or helicopters were bought under such programs. The problem is it is impossible to make sure they are used only for such purposes,” said Yoichi Ishii, professor emeritus at Kanagawa University.
“The best we can do is to make sure intended equipment was purchased. When it comes to how they are used, it is very difficult to draw a clear line between military and non-military,” he added.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has a stated goal of a stronger security profile for Japan that includes passing a law this year to reinterpret its pacifist constitution.
This would allow the country to come to the aid of an ally and pave the way for its troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War II.
The new foreign aid charter, revised for the first time in 12 years and approved by Abe’s government, also extended official development assistance to richer nations.
The adoption of the new charter coincides with China’s decision to expand its foreign assistance, particularly to resource-rich African countries.
Japan is the world’s fourth-largest donor of official development aid behind the US, Britain and Germany, and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida has called its development aid “Japan’s biggest diplomatic tool.”
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was