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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday Tokyo may partially lift its ban on arms exports to take part in a joint missile defence programme with the United States. But Koizumi denied there was any immediate plan to jointly develop weapons with other countries than the United States, despite his defence chief's suggestion that Tokyo may seek partners other than the United States. Koizumi told reporters that his government would consider lifting its ban on the arms shipments only "in connection with the missile defence" project with the United States. The premier made the remarks after Defence Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba said in the Dutch capital The Hague on Tuesday he should drastically review the ban so that Japan can seek other nations besides the United States to develop weapons. Ishiba is currently on a trip to Britain, the Netherlands and France to discuss international efforts to rebuild Iraq with European defence ministers. Earlier in the day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda cautioned against a blanket easing of the arms shipment embargo. "Japan, which has excellent technologies, may become a big exporter of arms" if the ban is lifted completely, Fukuda told a news conference. "First, we have to consider a framework in which we can send a clear message to the international community so that we can avoid creating misunderstanding in neighbouring countries," Fukuda said. "Our position is that Japan shouldn't sell arms and shouldn't support the proliferation of missiles," he said. "The government has to consider the issue thoroughly." Tokyo, which decided not to export any weapons at all in 1976, has so far provided "technical" cooperation only with Washington in line with the Japan-US security treaty, but has not shipped weapons parts to any country, including the United States. Last month, Fukuda hinted at relaxing the ban on arms exports as part of its effort to introduce a new defence shield programme to be jointly developed by the United States. Japan has been conducting joint research with the United States on developing a sophisticated missile defence system since 1999, a year after North Korea rattled Tokyo by launching a ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific. Japan cannot make any pre-emptive military attack on another country as its post-war constitution bans the use of force in settling international disputes. All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Quick Links
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