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Japan Steps Toward New Missile Defense Rules
A committee of the Japanese parliament’s upper house today passed a bill that would allow the Defense Agency chief to make use of a potential missile defense system in case of emergency without waiting for approval from the Prime Minister or cabinet, Kyodo reported today (see GSN, July 6). The revision is expected to be approved in next week’s vote of the full upper house and would allow for adoption of a missile defense system being jointly developed by Japan and the United States, according to Kyodo. The bill would also require the prime minister to report to parliament immediately in the event that any missile defense action is taken (Kyodo I/Yahoo!News, July 14). Meanwhile, Japanese Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono said today that interceptor missiles developed by the two countries could be offered to others, worrying some lawmakers that such transfers could violate a constitutional prohibition on weapons exports, Kyodo reported. “If there is a request from the United States, it could be possible for those missiles to be provided to third countries under certain circumstances,” said Ono. Tokyo would stipulate, however, that the United States inform it of any such plans prior to a sale, Ono added (Kyodo II/Yahoo!News, July 14).
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