Japan considers missile exports to Philippines: NHK report

TOKYO – Japan’s Defence Ministry is considering exports of surface-to-ship missiles to the Philippines, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on May 15, as Tokyo adopts a more assertive regional security role amid concern about China.

Japan in April unveiled its biggest overhaul of defence export rules in decades, scrapping restrictions on overseas arms sales and opening the way for exports of warships, missiles and other weapons.

Beijing has expressed displeasure about Tokyo’s new efforts in defence, with bilateral relations at a particularly low ebb since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan’s survival could trigger a military response.

On May 14, President Xi Jinping warned President Donald Trump at a closely watched summit that mishandling the countries’ disagreements over Taiwan could push China-US relations to a “dangerous place”.

Japan has previously said that it is looking at the early supply of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines.

Japan’s Defence Ministry did not immediately comment on the report about missile exports. A spokesperson for the Philippine Defence Department noted that the two countries have agreed to discuss the sale of defence assets.

Japan’s Self-Defence Forces fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces in May.

The Philippines, together with Japan’s south-western island chain, forms part of what military planners call the First Island Chain, a string of islands that hem in China’s access from its coastal waters to the Western Pacific.

Other countries such as Indonesia and Poland are also exploring procurement opportunities from Japan as they modernise their forces, Japanese officials and foreign diplomats have told Reuters. REUTERS