Japan’s export of lethal weapons sent an “extremely dangerous signal” indicating expanded military capabilities, Chinese observers and media said on Thursday as relations between the two countries continued to nosedive.
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The assessment followed Japanese media reports on Wednesday that Japan had exported domestically produced Patriot surface-to-air missile interceptors to the United States.
The US would use the missiles to replenish its own stockpile as it provided military support to Ukraine in the war against Russia, Kyodo News reported.
Japan’s export of lethal weapons has been heavily constrained by its Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology, guidelines for the country’s arms exports. In recent years, Tokyo has repeatedly sought to revise the principles.
The efforts included a 2023 amendment to the principles permitting the supply of Japanese-made Patriot missiles to the US.
For years, Beijing has accused Japan’s political right-wing of whitewashing the nation’s wartime history and trying to amend its pacifist constitution, alter its non-nuclear policy and expand its military capabilities.