Text Fwd: Japan To Permit Transfer Of Advanced Interceptor Missiles To Europe

* Text sent from Rick Rozoff on Jan. 11, 2011

Yomiuri Shimbun
January 10, 2011
Govt to OK U.S. transfers of missiles


-Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed the strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance....The government's plans to work out criteria that would allow the transfer of interceptor missiles is a measure of Japan's commitment to the alliance, the sources said.


The government will approve the transfer by the United States of next-generation antimissile missiles currently under joint Japan-U.S. development to third-party countries, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

To that end, the government will compile criteria that would allow the United States to have the SM-3 Block IIA missiles deployed in Europe and other parts of the world. The move is aimed at showing Japan's resolve to deepen its alliance with the United States, several government sources have revealed.

The Obama administration has been seeking Japan's accord on deployment of the next-generation missiles, which are being developed primarily to beef up Japanese, U.S. and European missile defense networks.

However, the government's approval must conform with the nation's three principles of not exporting weapons to communist bloc countries, countries subject to U.N. arms embargoes or countries involved in or likely to become involved in international conflicts, the sources said.

Japan's current self-imposed ban on arms exports in principle prohibits exporting weapons or weapons-related technology, except for joint Japan-U.S. development and production of missile defense-related weapons.

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa will express the government's intention to draw up the criteria in a way that conforms with the three principles on weapons exports in a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is scheduled to make a two-day visit to Japan on Thursday and Friday, according to the sources.

Officials from the Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and other relevant government organizations will soon start discussing how to draw up the criteria, they said.

The three principles on weapons exports were first declared in 1967 under the administration of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato and made tougher in 1976 by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Takeo Miki, effectively banning exports of any weapons or weapons-related technology.

In 2004, the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in light of the threat of missile attacks from North Korea, made the joint development of missile defense-related weapons and technology with the United States an exception to the export ban.

In announcing the easing of the principles on weapons exports, then Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda issued a statement in December that year.

The statement noted that the Japan-U.S. joint development and production of weapons for the two countries' missile defense programs "are exceptions to our country's arms exports ban," adding that the exceptions should be allowed on condition they would be "strictly managed."

In reference to the exceptions, a diplomatic document exchanged between the two countries in June 2006 reiterated the need for "strict management."

The document said "strict management" meant the United States should not use jointly developed weapons or technologies for purposes other than missile defense without prior Japanese agreement and should not transfer weapons or technology under the joint development to any third-party country without Japan's prior agreement.

The sources said Washington has been concerned Tokyo may refuse to allow the United States to transfer missile defense-related weapons or technology to third-party nations under the "strict management" criterion.

Under the circumstances, the government considers it necessary to clarify criteria with which to interpret "strict management" in a way that will show Japan's willingness to allow transfers of missile defense-related weapons and technology from the United States to third-party countries under certain conditions, according to the sources.

They said it would take the government about one year to work out details of procedures involving the implementation of the envisioned criteria and specific conditions to be attached to them.

The government's plans to establish the criteria in line with the goal set by the United States of building missile defense networks covering Europe before completing a global, comprehensive missile defense system around 2020.

In September 2009, the U.S. government announced it would finish deploying SM-3 Block IIA missiles by 2018 in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

If Japan does not consent to the U.S. plans, the United States will not be able to deploy the missiles in countries other than Japan and the United States.

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed the strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance, which had deteriorated after the launch in 2009 of the administration led by the Democratic Party of Japan, in a meeting in Washington on Jan. 6.

The government's plans to work out criteria that would allow the transfer of interceptor missiles is a measure of Japan's commitment to the alliance, the sources said.