A Japanese Patriot system during a Japanese-American military exercise on the outskirts of Tokyo.Image Issei Kato / Reuters
The export of military equipment is subject to strict regulations in Japan as a result of Japanese actions during the Second World War, when the Japanese occupied large parts of Asia and attacked the United States. The post-war constitution not only denied Japan the right to wage war, it also long prohibited the export of military goods.
In 2014, those rules were relaxed for the export of military equipment that cannot be used to kill people, but so far Japan’s defense industry has only been sparingly serving foreign customers with parts. The only deal for the export of a complete system was a recent delivery of radar systems to the Philippines.
Over by author
Marije Vlaskamp writes for de Volkskrant about China’s position in the world. She also follows developments elsewhere in Asia. She was a Beijing correspondent for 18 years.
Germany
Exporting lethal weapons remains taboo, especially to countries involved in a military conflict. Japan therefore only supplied Ukraine with helmets, fragment vests and generators, and even that was a huge turnaround for Japan, requiring a special ‘Ukraine measure’ in 2022.
The Japanese government is now considering expanding this exception to provide other countries that are invaded in defiance of international law with non-lethal military equipment. Other relaxations also make it easier to supply Japanese-made weapons to the original licensees of those weapon systems, such as the US and Germany.
Israel in Hamas
The US government is taking advantage of this opportunity now that the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas, the war in Ukraine and the arming of the island of Taiwan threaten to deplete US weapons supplies. After an urgent request from Washington, Tokyo will deliver Patriots to the US, the original license holder of this defense system, this year.
Mitsubishi, which produces these systems in Japan, is selling the Patriots to the US for $3.49 million. However, they are not allowed to simply transfer these systems to Ukraine, but they can do so to maintain their own supplies. This gives the Americans more room to provide Ukraine with other missile defense systems.
Poland
With Tokyo’s permission, the Japanese Patriots can be delivered to NATO allies where there is no fighting, such as Poland. Through this detour, other weapons and ammunition from Japan can also end up in the arsenals of NATO member states.
It is not known how many Japanese Patriots can be exported, but no miracles should be expected from Japan. Tokyo itself needs the majority of its Patriots to defend against a possible North Korean missile attack. As an ally of the US, Japan is an arch enemy of North Korea, which regularly flies its missiles over Japanese territory in test flights.
Tensions around the Korean peninsula, where the US is currently conducting military exercises with nuclear-powered submarines and bombers, increased further this week after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile. This Hwasong-18 can reach the American mainland, but crashed into the sea near the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.
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2023-12-21 15:35:27
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