Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe. Yahoo/Reuters
Japan is considering creating a financing arm to support defense industries that want to export arms to other countries. Yahoo/Reuters. The new financing arm will facilitate and fund arms sales as well as collaborative efforts between Japan and other countries. Some of the weapons systems that could be sold include submarines to Australia, and patrol seaplanes to India. Japan's defense industry is highly fractured and does not take action on defense issues without permission from the government.
My Comment:
Much like my last post about Germany, another supposedly pacifist country, Japan is getting involved in the arms trade. Of course the article points out that none of this is set in stone but my guess is that it is legit. Arms sales have some very obvious benefits for Japan. First they obviously help the economy. Second it strengthens Japan's defense industry which is useful if you are expecting war. Third, it strengthens international relationships with countries that may end up as allies.
So there are some obvious reasons for Japan to get involved in the international arms trade. But I doubt they would be doing this if China wasn't such a huge threat to Japan. China has been threatening all of its neighbors and Japan has a rather large maritime dispute with them over the Senkaku islands. Everyone in that part of the world is expecting war, which explains why Japan is moving away from their pacifist past. Of course any war between Japan and China would be a worldwide disaster so hopeful nothing comes from it.
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