Tokyo eases ban on arms exports

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COM in 30 languages. Deutsche Welle. Audiotrainer Deutschtrainer Die Bienenretter. Asia Tokyo to ease ban on weapons exports To cut defense spending, the Japanese government has decided to ease a ban on the sale of arms which has been in place since the s. The new rules would allow Japan to develop weapons more closely with other countries.

Eisaku Sato vowed not to sell arms to countries involved in international conflicts. Diplomats meet in Geneva to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions US and North Korean diplomats are meeting in Geneva to discuss the possible resumption of six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program. Japan, whose industries took many years to recover from the devastation of World War II, declared in that it would very tightly control its foreign weapons sales. At the height of the Cold War, then prime minister Eisaku Sato said Tokyo would not sell armaments to communist states, countries directly engaged in international conflicts, or nations under UN arms embargoes.

The restrictions were further tightened in when Japan said all exports would be subject to stringent rules that effectively barred all weapon sales. A limited number of exceptions were subsequently made for technological co-operation projects such as missile defence with the United States, Japan's cornerstone security ally. The new rules will allow Japan to develop and produce arms jointly with the US and European countries and to export military equipment for peaceful and humanitarian purposes such as UN peace-keeping operations.

Tokyo will also be allowed to provide defensive equipment, such as helmets and bullet-proof vests, to the limited number of countries in which its Self-Defence Forces are deployed.