Japan To Militarize Space

Game On: Japan Ends Pacifist Policy

By Yoko Kubota in Tokyo
Article From: Reuters
May 21, 2008 06:17pm
Courtesy Of The Herald Sun
News.com.au

JAPAN has passed a law allowing military use of space, ending a decades-old pacifist policy as it casts a wary eye on North Korea's nuclear ambitions and China's rising spending on its armed forces.

The law, which allows the military to launch its own satellites for spying and warn of missile launches but rules out offensive weapons in space, was approved by parliament's opposition-controlled upper house, a sign of rare consensus in Japan's divided political arena.

Japan's space scientists and industry have long complained that the separation of space development from the military since 1969 hampers technological process in the sector.

Japan's powerful Keidanren business lobby had pushed for the law along with a relaxation of the country's ban on arms exports in order to help the nation's defence industry compete globally.

"The key point is that rather than just focusing on research and development like before, this new law will balance R&D, the industry, and security," Satoshi Tsuzukibashi, a director at one of Keidanren's industrial affairs bureau, said.

"In the future, there will be more satellites and rockets used for space security, so that is a positive factor for the space industry," he added.

The legislation mandates the creation of a new cabinet level post to oversee Japan's space security, a move that could help pry more funding out of tight-fisted finance bureaucrats worried about the nation's bulging public debt.

Lance Gatling, an aerospace consultant in Tokyo, said the law might not mean a sudden big boost in space security spending, but would lead to better coordination among ministries. He said the new cabinet post showed the importance of the law.

"It's not simply another small organisation that's underneath some large organisation," Mr Gatling said.

"This is a top level effort by Japan, as it should be."

Japan's space program is run by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with an annual budget of around ¥183 billion ($1.8 billion) but others such as the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) also play a role in aerospace.

Japan has long held concerns about China's space and military programs and North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities.

In January 2007, China alarmed the world by using a missile to shoot down one of its own disused satellites, demonstrating its burgeoning prowess in space and military hardware.

Japan was also shocked when North Korea fired a ballistic missile right over the country in 1998.

Tokyo already has spy satellites, launched to keep an eye on North Korea and controlled by a government department, but these provide far poorer resolution than other governments' military satellites.

Tokyo this week came under renewed pressure from the United States, its closest security ally, to increase its military spending, long subject to an unofficial cap limiting the defence budget to less than 1 per cent of gross domestic product.

Washington's ambassador to Tokyo Thomas Schieffer said on Tuesday that Japan should share the costs of defending itself with the United States.

Japan's pacifist constitution prohibits maintaining a military, but has been interpreted to allow armed forces for self-defence.

Subsequent governments have been stretching the limits of that interpretation, for example by sending troops to southern Iraq in 2004-2006 on a non-combat, reconstruction mission.