The Japanese government is set to further loosen restrictions on defence equipment exports following a green light from the leading party’s main security committees, according to multiple government and media sources.
On 13 April, Taro Honda, Director of the National Democratic Party’s (LDP) National Defence Division (NDD), announced that a joint committee composed of the party’s NDD and Research Commission on Security had agreed to draft amendments to the implementation guidelines for the nation’s Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology.
The next day Takayuki Kobayashi, Chair of the LDP’s Policy Research Council, announced that the recommendations had been subsequently approved by the party’s General Council.
The draft revisions, which were jointly compiled by the LDP and Japan Innovation Party in early March, are now expected to be approved by Cabinet next week, setting the scene for their adoption during the next meeting of the National Security Council (NSC).
In a video released by the LDP’s public relations arm, Honda said that the committee agreed to abolish the guideline that largely restricted technology transfer to equipment that belonged to the five categories of rescue, transport, coast guards, surveillance and minesweeping.
Instead, exports will be categorised in a simple binary of weapons or non-weapons – the latter of which will no longer be subject to limitations.
The transfer of weapons, which was formerly only permitted in special circumstances such as in the case of joint technology development programs with international partners, will now be open to each of the 17 countries with which Japan has signed binding security agreements, Honda added.
These include Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the Philippines and Vietnam, which in recent years have experienced tensions with China due to conflicting maritime territorial claims.
Honda also noted that while rules against sending weapons to places engaged in hostilities will remain in place. “We will permit it in special circumstances upon taking into account [the impact the transfer will have on] Japan’s own security needs,” he said.
Since 2022, Japan has been a supplier of non-lethal equipment to Ukraine including bulletproof vests, tents, emergency rations and drones.
Underlining the need for the guideline amendments, Honda said that Japan’s worsening security environment – described in the draft document as including China and North Korea’s military rise and growing Russian-North Korean collusion – meant that the nation can no longer protect itself on its own, and that in the event of an emergency, the shared use of equipment has the potential to increase our ability to sustain combat.
Similar sentiments were echoed in comments on the passing of the revision by Japan’s Minster of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi on 14 April.
“Through using the same equipment as our partners, we aim to increase interoperability, build resilient supply chains, and expand the maintenance and repair base [for Japanese equipment] within our region,” Minister Koizumi stated.
Koizumi added that the easing of restrictions would not only help strengthen the deterrence capabilities of Japan’s security partners but could provide a much-needed boost for Japan’s defence industry - mirroring comments made via twitter by Kobayashi.
The defence minister stated that by expanding defence export opportunities Japan has an opportunity to build a stronger defence production/technology base, which would “ultimately contribute to strengthening Japan’s own deterrence capabilities.”
The expedited passage of the revisions coincided with a number of developments in Japan’s defence industry space, including the release of an annual review of permits for defence equipment transfer.
That report, by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, included an extensive entry on exceptions made under the old guidelines to Japan’s agreement to export the upgraded Mogami-class multi role frigate to Australia.
It also occurred just prior to Japan's Defense Minister's trip to Australia to sign off on part of the Mogami deal (the provision of three ships to be built in Japan) on 18 April, raising speculation that the timing of the expedited revisions may have been designed to further allay Australian concerns about potential restrictions associated with Japan's rules on defence equipment transfer that could impact Australia’s procurement, offset agreements, or sovereign operational discretion in the use of Japanese technology.
On the same day of the joint committee meeting, the LNP’s main opposition, the Centrist Reform Alliance (RFA) multiparty coalition, released a report calling for restrictions and parliamentary scrutiny on the transfer of weapons, raising eight points including the need to uphold Japan’s pacifist constitution, abide by UN charters, and implement stricter oversight to prevent equipment being transferred to third parties or used inappropriately.
That report came several days after China’s embassy in Japan expressed Beijing’s opposition to the proposed changes, including concerns that looser restrictions on weapons transfer could violate Japan’s constitution and the Cairo Declaration.