A Japanese defense official yesterday said that Japan is seeking to increase its sales of military equipment to Southeast Asian nations amid growing tensions with China and North Korea.
The move is part of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to bolster Tokyo’s military role and its sales of defense equipment, especially in Southeast Asia, where China has expanded its own arms sales.
Hideaki Watanabe, head of the Defense Ministry’s Acquisition Technology and Logistics Agency, said Japan will host a meeting on Thursday with ASEAN defense officials to discuss the sharing of equipment and technology.
He spoke yesterday at an international arms exhibit near Tokyo that was attended by hundreds of defense officials and industry leaders from around the world.
Watanabe said there have been aggressive attempts by nations in recent years to change the “status quo,” in an apparent reference to China’s building of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
“It is essential to maintain the open and stable sea under the rule of law,” he said. “Ensuring safety of navigation and flight contributes to the peace and prosperity of Japan and the international society. Japan’s research and development of high-quality defense equipment contributes to the defense of Japan and elsewhere.”
Japan’s defense industry at home is worth about ¥1.8 trillion (US$16 billion) annually, a fraction of the country’s ¥52 trillion auto industry.
Japan had restricted arms exports under its postwar war-renouncing constitution, limiting joint research and development to the US under a bilateral security pact.
Since the 2014 easing of the rules, Japan now has joint research deals with Britain, Australia and France.
To scale up the defense industry, Japan’s government has bolstered research funding to more than ¥10 billion this year.
Japan has been promoting the transfer of defense equipment to Southeast Asian countries to help their maritime security capabilities amid China’s growing presence in the South China Sea, but deals have been limited to the sale of TC-90 surveillance aircraft to the Philippines.
China already exports mostly low-cost military equipment to many Southeast Asian countries.
The arms exhibit, sponsored by the Japanese defense, foreign and industry ministries, included panel discussions focused on missile defense.
US defense giant Lockheed Martin and Japanese contractors Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries were among dozens of exhibitors from around the world who had booths at this year’s Mast Asia exhibit, just east of Tokyo.
However, Japanese manufacturers are still cautious about the prospects of defense sales.
Mitsubishi Industries, a maker of Aegis destroyers and fighter jets, is not expecting booming business right away, as Japan’s defense equipment sales are more focused on disaster prevention and international peace.
While Japan’s defense role is still a sensitive issue to other Asian countries that still have bitter memories of Japanese wartime aggression, a greater contribution by the country is highly welcome as the region now faces common challenges such as North Korea, said South Korean defense expert Yoon Suk-joon, a retired navy captain who was at the exhibit.
“We have a threat, a real threat from North Korea,” Yoon said, citing the North’s recent missile capabilities and nuclear development. “Japan is our neighbor. As long as we have common interests, common security concepts, there is no specific reason why we should reject military cooperation in terms of military equipment and sharing of the information of that.”
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