MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Japan is removing restrictions on exporting lethal weapons for the first time in 50 years. Japan is feeling more threatened by its neighbors than it has in decades, and that has led to gradual shifts in the country's mindset and defense policies. NPR's Anthony Kuhn joins us from Seoul to fill us in. Good morning, Anthony.
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE: Hey, Michel.
MARTIN: So what are these new rules?
KUHN: The new rules were approved by Japan's Cabinet and National Security Council today. And under them, Japan can now export lethal arms to foreign nations if they're not involved in active conflicts, if they have agreements with Japan to keep defense technologies classified and if they commit to use the arms in line with the U.N. Charter. And the Japanese government does plan to monitor compliance with these standards. The government can make exceptions for national security reasons or if it is jointly developing weapons with other countries, such as Australia, which it just signed a big deal with to jointly produce new frigates.
MARTIN: So why does Japan feel threatened, and how does selling its weapons make it feel safer?
KUHN: Well, Japan's government often says that it's facing the toughest security environment since World War II. It feels threatened by its nuclear-armed neighbors, China, Russia and North Korea. Here's how Japan's main spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, put it to reporters today.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MINORU KIHARA: (Speaking Japanese).
KUHN: "In order to protect peace in our own country and the region," he said, "we must further promote the transfer of defense equipment and strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of our allies and like-minded nations."
So the big picture is that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wants to beef up defense spending, amend the constitution to relax restraints on Japan's military and maybe even reconsider its ban on nuclear weapons. And the defense industrial complex is very important to all of this. Currently, Japan's defense contractors only have one customer - the government. It makes it really hard for them to make a profit and stay in business.
MARTIN: Were there any objections raised to this?
KUHN: Yeah. Polls show that about half or more of Japanese are opposed to scrapping these restrictions. One reason is for democracy's sake. Japan's government does not have to get advance approval from parliament for the arms sales. The second is that people argue it may make Japan's neighbors feel less safe, especially those which Japan invaded in World War II. So critics argue that it undermines Japan's diplomacy and makes it less safe. And the third is that in its constitution, Japan gives up the right to wage war. So people feel it should not be in the business of spreading the tools of war and to do so would go against its own identity as a pacifist nation.
MARTIN: So, Anthony, before we let you go, from the U.S. perspective, from the standpoint of U.S.-Japanese relations, does this change anything?
KUHN: Well, the Trump administration certainly wants allies to beef up their defense spending and defense burden-sharing, and they will like this for that reason. But from Japan's perspective, the move is clearly intended to make Japan less reliant on the U.S., and the less reliant it is, the less leverage the U.S. has. Here's the immediate problem. Japanese media and others have reported that the U.S. has warned Japan that because it's using up munitions against Iran so fast, it may not be able to deliver Tomahawk missiles to Japan on time. Now, these reports have not been confirmed, but U.S. munitions supplies are clearly strained, and according to Japanese media, Tokyo is worried about that.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Anthony Kuhn in Seoul. Anthony, thank you.
KUHN: You're welcome, Michel.
(SOUNDBITE OF 3ND'S "WALTZ FOR LILLY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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