Opinion
UPDATED: 14:56, July 08, 2004
Japan's muscle flexing is cause for concern
In its 2004 defence white paper unveiled on Tuesday, the Japanese Government reiterated that its military must develop more effective means to bolster its defence against the possibility of nuclear or terrorist attacks.
Outlining plans to introduce a missile defence system, the Defence Agency's annual report suggested Tokyo review its decades-old three principles concerning the current ban on weapons exports as the result of technical research with the United States in that area.
The white paper stressed the missile and nuclear programmes in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) pose a threat to Japan's security and need to be closely monitored.
The Japanese Government is again exaggerating the so-called threats posed by neighbouring countries to advance towards its long-pursued status of being a "normal country" and global military power.
Revising the current ban on arms exports runs counter to the spirit of the country's pacifist constitution.
Japan has never exported weapons under the three arms export ban principles enshrined in its post-war constitution adopted in 1967, as well as a statement issued in 1976 that expanded the list of countries covered by the three principles.
However, the ban was partly lifted in 1983 to allow technological co-operation with the US, with which Japan has a security treaty. The two nations have been conducting a joint study of missile defence-related technology since 1998.
They are currently trying to jointly produce a more effective missile-defence system to guard against the possibility of faster and more comprehensive ballistic missile attacks by the DPRK.
Moreover, by the end of this year, the Japanese Government intends to review the nation's basic defence framework adopted in 1976 and reviewed in 1995, as well as the current five-year defence programme.
The planned review of the current arms exports ban and the basic defence framework is essentially a shift of the country's strategic mentality from a defensive to offensive posture.
Given Japan's lack of soul-searching over its history of aggression, coupled with its following in the footsteps of Washington's pre-emptive strategy, the country's defence developments, no matter under what pretext, will certainly arouse deeper concern among its Asian neighbours.
Source: China Daily
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