- Japan has signed an agreement with the US to jointly develop a theatre missile defense system. This has actually helped push forward the process of ammending the Japanese constitution, which forbids arms exports. I was going to ask the presenter (a Mr. Yoneyama) if he was worried about the possibility of this encouraging nuclear proliferation, but it occurs to me that between Russia, China and North Korea, Japan's neighbourhood is pretty much thoroughly proliferated already.
- The system will be independent of the US's missile defense system. This isn't going to be part of the NMD system that the US wants us to join.
- Japan's military is technically illegal, under Article 9 of their constitution. Probably the most heavily-armed illegal army in the world!
Friday, January 14, 2005
Japanese Defense Lecture
Was actually very boring. However, there were some interesting details:
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Actually, the legality (or lack thereof) of Japan's military is one of the most contentious issues in the post-war period. Carefully parsed, Article 9 probably does allow for self-defence forces.
Article 9: " Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a mean of settling international disputes.
(2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained..."
Japan will not maintain forces to help promote an international peace. However, Japan could maintain forces for the purposes of self defence. Article 2 is carefully qualified by the phrase "In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph," I think I've read somewhere that the original draft of the constitution as drafted by SCAP was not qualified in this way, but accepted a change to allow for self defence.
In keeping with Article 9, Japan does not maintain bombers, nukes, long-range missiles, aircraft carriers, or other weapons that are necessary to project power beyond the home islands.
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