Japan holds first talks on loosening arms export rules

Japan's ruling parties on April 25 held a first meeting to review the nation's strict regulations on weapon exports as calls grow within the senior coalition partner for the country to play a bigger role in the global security arena at a time major Western countries are giving military aid to Ukraine.

The Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hopes to lift a virtual arms export ban by easing Japan's guidelines on the overseas transfer of defence equipment and technology drawn up under its pacifist Constitution, according to Kyodo News.

But the LDP's junior coalition partner Komeito has been reluctant to change the guidelines for fear that allowing weapons sales to other countries would exacerbate armed conflicts and run counter to Japan's postwar pacifism.

The three principles effectively ban weapon exports unless the importing nation is a joint developer of the weapons with Japan or a producer of them.

"I hope our discussions will set a concrete direction for issues regarding defence equipment transfers," Itsunori Onodera, a former defence minister who heads the LDP's research commission on national security, said at the outset of the meeting in Tokyo.

Shigeki Sato, Onodera's Komeito counterpart, said the parties should not compromise "the postwar path of Japan as a peace-loving nation" in the review discussions.

Since the Russian war in Ukraine began in February 2022, Tokyo has offered such defence equipment as bulletproof vests and helmets to Kyiv, while Western countries have supplied missiles, tanks, and fighter jets.

In its National Security Strategy long-term policy guideline updated in December, the government pledged to "promote the smooth transfer of defence equipment and technology of high-security significance," and "build a strong and sustainable defence industry."

The two parties are planning to hold a second meeting on the issue after the country's Golden Week holidays from late this month to early May.

The LDP had initially aimed at revising the principles before the three-day Group of Seven summit kicks off in Hiroshima on May 19, but the coalition talks are not expected to yield a conclusion until after the G-7 gathering given Komeito's demand for careful discussions.

In the process of revising the National Security Strategy, the LDP and Komeito agreed on the necessity of easing the three principles but failed to work out the details.