Japan OKs easing of military-related exports
Source: Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan relaxed a decades-old ban on military-related exports Tuesday in a bid to expand joint arms development with allies and equipment sales to Southeast Asia and elsewhere.
The new guidelines endorsed Tuesday by the Cabinet are part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to bolster national security amid China's military expansion and North Korea's nuclear threat.
Abe has said Japan needs to play a larger role in international peacekeeping and defense cooperation. His government is pushing to allow Japan to defend allies, such as the U.S., if they are under attack, by re-interpreting the war-renouncing Article 9 of Japan's constitution.
The new export guidelines pave the way for Japan to join arms technology development with the U.S. and other allies including Britain, France and Australia and acquire more advanced defense capabilities and equipment, said Nobushige Takamizawa, deputy chief of a recently created National Security Secretariat.
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