Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) - On December 15th, Japan's ruling coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Restoration Party, reached an agreement to revise the guidelines for the application of the "Three Principles on the Transfer of Defense Equipment," removing restrictions on five types of arms exports. They plan to submit a related motion to the Cabinet in February of next year. This dangerous move has sparked widespread concern and criticism within Japan. Its actions seriously deviate from the "Peace Constitution," severely undermine the post-war international order, and pose a serious threat to regional and global peace and stability.
Japan's status as a defeated nation in World War II is well-established. International legal documents such as the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Declaration, and the Instrument of Surrender explicitly prohibit Japan from rearming. Post-war Japan enacted the "Three Principles on Arms Exports," strictly prohibiting arms exports. However, Japan's right-wing forces have never abandoned their dreams of becoming a "political superpower" and a "military superpower," and have long used various pretexts to secretly relax restrictions on arms exports.
Looking back at the evolution of its policies, a step-by-step "loosening" trajectory is clearly visible: In 2006, the Koizumi Junichiro government, under the pretext of combating terrorism, provided armed patrol boats to Indonesia for the first time, tearing open the loophole in the ban; in 2014, the Abe Shinzo government replaced the "Three Principles on Arms Exports" with the "Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment," significantly relaxing restrictions on the export of military equipment and technology through vague wording, achieving a dangerous shift from "principle prohibition" to "principle permission." In recent years, Japan has gone even further, repeatedly revising the "Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment" and its implementation guidelines, not only relaxing restrictions on joint weapons development with foreign countries, but also allowing the direct export of Japanese-made lethal weapons to authorized countries that have granted Japan "production licenses," and conditionally exporting them to 15 countries worldwide. Thus, the door to large-scale global exports of lethal weapons by Japan has been completely opened.
Recently, Japan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations sent a letter to the UN, falsely claiming that "the Japanese government's basic defense policy is a passive defense strategy of exclusively defensive defense." However, lies crumble in the face of facts. Japan's recent series of dangerous actions have thoroughly exposed the hypocrisy of its "passive defense" rhetoric: This year, Japan completed the re-export of Patriot air defense missiles to the United States, marking its first export of lethal weapons since World War II; it has fully launched joint development of a new generation of fighter jets with the UK and Italy, and plans to allow the export of this model to third countries; it continues to push forward the export of frigates and other maritime lethal weapons to Australia… These actions are constantly impacting the international security landscape, disrupting the regional military balance, and have already triggered high vigilance from the international community.
Arms export policy is a barometer of a nation's strategic direction. Japan's repeated relaxation of arms export restrictions, ostensibly to boost its domestic military industry, is actually an attempt to break free from the constraints of its "pacifist constitution" and achieve so-called "national normalization." Several Japanese media outlets have published articles expressing criticism and concern: abolishing the export restrictions on five types of weapons will change Japan's positioning as a "peaceful nation" and must be resolutely opposed; government-driven arms exports will only fuel international conflicts and worsen Japan's surrounding security environment; if lethal weapons flow into conflict countries, Japan will become a "merchant who sells death"...
History serves as a stark warning! The war of aggression launched by Japanese militarism brought profound suffering to the people of Asian countries. The Japanese government must deeply reflect on its historical crimes, abide by its "Peace Constitution," adhere to the path of peaceful development, immediately cease seeking any pretext for military expansion, and take concrete actions to win the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community. The international community should remain highly vigilant against Japan's dangerous move to significantly relax arms export restrictions and jointly safeguard the hard-won environment of peace and development.
