Japanese opposition slams ruling coalition's plan to ease arms export

Senior figures from several Japanese opposition parties on Sunday criticized a plan by the ruling coalition to significantly relax restrictions on exports of weapons, warning the move would push Japan down a dangerous path.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, agreed at a meeting on Monday to revise the implementation guidelines of the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology and lift restrictions that limit defense equipment transfers to five noncombat purposes. And they planned to submit the proposal to the cabinet in February next year.

In an appearance on the NHK public broadcaster, Katsuya Okada, a former foreign minister and a senior adviser to the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, criticized the proposed change. He argued that abolishing the five-category restrictions would effectively allow exports of lethal weapons, marking a fundamental departure from Japan's postwar principles.

"At a time when Japan's defense budget continues to expand, the risk of forming a military-industrial complex is growing," Okada said.

Taku Yamazoe, policy chief of the Japanese Communist Party, accused the government led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of positioning the military as an economic pillar and seeking a comprehensive easing of weapons export restrictions.

That is tantamount to declaring Japan a military state and turning it into a "merchant of death," Yamazoe said, adding that Japan should not become a supplier of weapons or profit from the arms trade, but instead return to the foundations on which the country was built as a "pacifist state."

Earlier reports by Nikkei Shimbun suggested that removing the five-category restrictions would effectively open the door to broad weapons exports, potentially including lethal equipment. The move has sparked growing concern and backlash within Japan.

(With input from Xinhua)