July 28, 2010
A Japanese government panel is calling for a review of Japan's basic defense posture. The panel wants to overhaul the country's Self-Defense Forces to enable them to respond flexibly to emerging threats from ballistic missiles and cyber terrorism.
The panel of experts will outline a set of recommendations to the government based on discussions launched in February.
The panel says recommendations will include scrapping the basic policy of deploying Self-Defense Forces evenly across the country.It says the Cold War policy no longer fits the changing security environment.
The panel plans to call on the government to ease restrictions on arms exports to allow the joint development of defense equipment not only with the US but also with other allies.
The panel also plans to call for reviewing the government's interpretation of the Constitution on the right to collective self-defense to make it possible to shoot down ballistic missiles targeting the US.
The panel says it will submit the recommendations to Prime Minister Naoto Kan next month.
The government will then begin discussions to review the National Defense Program Guideline by the end of this year.
2010/07/28 10:57(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
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