Text Fwd: Issue of liftup of weapon export ban to be discussed in Japan / GSDFs may be deployed near Taiwan

* Text sent from M on July 25, 2010

'Though major newspapers in Japan never report, but today's local newspaper in my prefecture says

that Japanese government has begun to consider to lift up the ban on exporting weapons

limited only to SM3 Block 2A to the third-party countries. This has been urged by R.Gates since last Oct,

but before /after that, many American ' advisors' to Obama never failed to persuade Tokyo to do so in their visits to Japan.

(Note: In political terms in Japan, ' consider ' nearly means 'to give it go-ahead')

The U.S. wants to export, beginning in 2018, the new interceptor version to be produced under US-Japan joint program,

so it has been urging Japanese governments, old and new, to lift the ban up in order for the U.S. to get ready for

their likely contracts with the third-party buyers. The newspaper says that it is feared that when the ban is lifted up,

infomation may not be disclosed on what third-party countries will buy such interceptors,

thus making weapons import expanded without restraint.

Although 'the 3 principles on weapons export ' is Japan's long cherished peace measure next to Article 9,

it has never become a law, so only cabinet discussionn will be enough to lift it up, our old ruling party has said.

Additionally, our Defense Ministry wants to deploy a small number of its GSDF troops to three minor islands

in Japan's most south-western territory close to Taiwan, called Miyako, Ishigaki, Yonakuni.

http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?hl=ja&ie=UTF-8&tab=wl (Yonakuni, Ishigaki. Miyako is closer to Okinawa than these two.)

As there are now no such military facilities on these islands, this is going to need Diet deliberation.

As part of the aftermath of the Cheonan incident, this would be a grave matter as well and must be provocative to China.