Japan Press Weekly

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2016 April 27 - May 10 [POLITICS]

Japan’s unsuccessful bid for Aussie submarine project is good chance to re-impose arms embargo

Regarding Australia’s project to construct submarines for which manufacturers in Japan, Germany, and France made bids, the Australian government on April 26 announced that it chose a French bidder as its joint developer. This is a good opportunity for Japanese citizens opposing the Abe government’s move to turn Japan into a “merchant of death” country to have the arms export ban re-imposed.

In response to the announcement, Japan’s Defense Minister, Foreign Minister, and Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency Commissioner unanimously stated, “It is very regrettable.”

Now is good timing for Japanese citizens to stop the Abe government from expanding Japan’s military-industrial complex and put Japan back on the track to be a peace-promoting nation. The need now is to increase public voices opposing the promotion of arms exports.

The Abe government has implemented measures to boost overseas sales of weapons since it lifted the ban on arms exports with a Cabinet decision in April 2014. It had expected that its push to recreate a “merchant of death” Japan would gain momentum if Japan’s weapons industry took part in the Australian project which has budgeted 50 billion Australian dollars (4.3 trillion yen) to construct 12 next-generation submarines.

Past related articles:
> Civic network launched to oppose ‘merchants of death’ [February 8, 2016]
> Don’t export submarines to Australia: citizens’ network [December 19, 2015]