The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is ramping up steps to loosen strict rules on exporting lethal defense equipment, the party¡¯s policy chief said Monday.
LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Takayuki Kobayashi said that he intends to push for relaxing the regulations, abolishing the current practice that permits exports only for equipment in five categories ¡ª rescue, transport, surveillance, monitoring and minesweeping ¡ª under the country¡¯s .
¡°In recent years, vigorous debate has taken place even within the ruling party, yielding some progress,¡± . ¡°However, exports of finished products to allied nations have remained limited to ... the so-called five categories. By appropriately relaxing these rules, we will further contribute to world peace and the stability of the international order.¡±
Simultaneously, he added, such a move would strengthen the country¡¯s own deterrence and response capabilities by transforming the costly structure of its defense industry ¡ª which is currently limited to mainly supplying the Self-Defense Forces.
The coalition policy agreement reached earlier this month between LDP and Japan Innovation Party (JIP) has explicitly backed the abolition of the rules, part of a number of defense initiatives in the deal that, if realized, would further accelerate the country¡¯s push to beef up its security and shed some of the postwar constraints imposed on its military.
These defense initiatives have already spotlighted what is likely to be a more hawkish approach to defense issues by the LDP-JIP bloc ¡ª a noticeable divergence from the prior coalition government that brought together the LDP and the dovish Komeito.
Although Japan has in recent years whittled down curbs on the export of defense equipment, the LDP had long faced pushback from Komeito. Experts said that under its coalition with the JIP, the LDP will have little trouble further easing these rules.
The push to scrap the rules echoes a
Experts say that amid the backdrop of Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine, Chinese military assertiveness and North Korea¡¯s nuclear saber-rattling, the Japanese public may now be more willing to back an easing of the rules.
¡°I think the public would support a wider range of exports these days, given world events and the amount of ¡®defense¡¯ equipment that is truly defensive or dual use in nature,¡± said James Schoff, a Japan expert at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA in Washington. ¡°If the government makes this a priority, I think they could open up new categories of systems for export.¡±
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