Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

New defense outline names China, N Korea as main concerns

Similarly, Machimura said it is incorrect to say that the outline casts China as a threat because "it only wrote that there is need to watch out for China's increase in military spending."

Japan needs to ‘pay attention’ to China and Japan is ‘concerned’ about China but they don’t want China to think Japan considers the dragon a threat.

-Am



Friday, December 10, 2004 at 14:06 JST
TOKYO — Japan adopted a new defense policy guideline Friday that names China and North Korea as concerns for the first time and introduces major policy shifts, such as a more active role for the Self-Defense Forces in international peace activities.

With the cabinet's approval of the new National Defense Program Outline, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda issued a statement announcing a relaxation of Japan's arms exports ban to enable the sales of missile defense components to the United States.

The outline, revised to reflect measures to respond to new threats such as terrorism, shows Japan's determination to further strengthen its alliance with the United States through various means, saying Japan will be "proactive in bilateral strategic dialogue on security issues."

But it also mentions, for the first time, the need to reduce the burden on residents living near U.S. bases while maintaining the U.S. deterrence.

The new outline stipulates a downsizing of the SDF, including a cut of 5,000 ground troops to 155,000 — a compromise reached in last-minute talks Wednesday between the Defense Agency and the Finance Ministry after two months of tough negotiations.

"In this new era, we must transform from the idea of depending on deterrence to attaining response capabilities because threats have changed," Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono told a news conference shortly after the cabinet approval. "Major issues to be addressed from now on will be the deployment of the missile defense system and the transformation of U.S. forces."

But Ono appeared to remain bitter about the clash with the Finance Ministry over the personnel reduction, saying: "The SDF is responsible for disaster relief and international peace activities as well as their principal duty of defending the country. I think manpower is really important."

The cabinet also approved a new midterm defense buildup program, under which the next five-year budget will be cut to 24.24 trillion yen from the previous 25.16 trillion yen, marking the first reduction of a midterm defense budget.

The new budget includes 500 billion yen earmarked for introducing a missile defense system over the next five years.

Separate from the budget, up to 100 billion yen can be used for unpredictable situations at the approval of the Security Council of Japan. Previously, 150 billion yen for that purpose was included in the budget.

Turning to the issue of China, the policy outline says: "China, which has significant influence on the region's security, is pushing forward its nuclear and missile capabilities and modernization of its navy and air force. It is also trying to expand its scope of naval activities and attention must be paid to these developments."

In a statement issued the same day, Ono said Japan needs to pay attention to China, citing "the recent case in which a Chinese submarine intruded into Japanese waters."

The outline was apparently also referring to heightened bilateral tensions over natural gas development projects in the East China Sea.

Political analysts raised concerns that mentioning China may heighten tensions and possibly provoke it into a further military buildup. But both Hosoda and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura denied Friday that Japan views China as a threat.

"It mentioned the need to pay attention to security issues regarding China, which has always been a major and nuclear-capable military power in Japan's vicinity and which has continued steady economic growth," the top government spokesman told a separate news conference. "It is not that Japan sees China as a threat."

Similarly, Machimura said it is incorrect to say that the outline casts China as a threat because "it only wrote that there is need to watch out for China's increase in military spending."

The document also points to North Korea's military moves as "a significantly unstable factor in regional security and a serious problem for global nonproliferation efforts."

The previous outline in 1995 had avoided referring to specific countries of concern by name.

On arms exports, Hosoda's statement says Japan will exempt arms parts related to missile defense when the ongoing Japan-U.S. joint research moves to the development and production stages.

Japan decided to start joint missile defense research with the United States in 1998 after North Korea launched a ballistic missile across Japan that year.

In the case of arms exports related to other joint projects with the United States and contributions for international antiterrorism operations, the government will decide on a case-to-case basis, the statement says.

Japan has maintained a blanket ban regardless of the destinations since 1976, although the transfer of military technology to the United States was made an exception in 1983.

The outline seeks a more proactive role for Japanese troops in international peace operations and expands the territorial scope for SDF activities to cover the Middle East, apparently aimed at allowing Japan to provide more support to the United States in global operations.

Hosoda's statement says legislative measures will be taken to refine the categorization of international peace activities under SDF duties, implying that the government is ready to upgrade such overseas operations to a "principal duty" of the SDF.

This signals a major change in Japan's definition of the role of the SDF, initially set up 50 years ago for exclusively self-defense purposes under Japan's pacifist Constitution.

Friday's outline was approved just a day after the Cabinet approved an extension of Japan's deployment of ground troops in Iraq on an aid mission for another year.

In order to respond to new threats such as terrorism, the proliferation of ballistic missiles and possible attacks from nonstate actors, the SDF will be streamlined by cutting equipment and shall transform into a multifunctional, flexible and effective force, the outline also says.

The outline, which sets out Japan's defense policies for the next 10 years, will be reviewed in five years or when a major change in security situations occurs. The midterm buildup plan is to be revised in three years or in the case of a revision of the policy guideline.

The new outline is the second revision since it was first compiled in 1976 and will replace the current 1995 outline beginning in April 2005.

The five-year midterm program will be effective from April 2005. (Kyodo News)


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