The Japanese government has relaxed restrictions on arms exports, allowing the sale of lethal weapons abroad.
This is reported by Kyodo News.
The changes were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Security Council. The reason for the easing of restrictions is the most difficult security situation since World War II.
The updated arms export rules remove restrictions that allowed only non-combat equipment to be sold abroad: transport, rescue, surveillance, warning, and mine-clearing equipment.
Under the new changes, all defense equipment will be divided into “weapons” and “non-weapons” categories, depending on whether it has lethal properties. The former category includes missiles and destroyers, while the latter includes radar warning and control systems.
Non-lethal weapons will have no export restrictions, while lethal weapons will be sold only to countries that have signed agreements with Japan to protect classified information related to defense equipment and technology. Tokyo has such agreements with 17 countries, including the United States and Britain.
The decision on arms exports will initially be made by the National Security Council, which will then inform parliament. The exception is fighter jets, which Japan is jointly producing with the UK and Italy (these exports must first be approved by parliament).
- At the end of March, it became known that Japan was sending its military to the Philippines for training for the first time since World War II.
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