Japan ditches decades of arm export curbs as US reliability wavers

Japan is set to take another step away from its long-standing limits on arms exports, a move analysts say will strengthen the domestic defence industry, spur innovation, deepen security ties and reduce Tokyo’s reliance on the US at a time when Washington is increasingly seen as a less reliable partner.The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday that revisions to the Three Principles on the Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology would be approved at a cabinet meeting next week.The changes would mark a further shift from Japan’s post-war restrictions on arms exports, first codified in 1967, to prohibit weapons transfers to communist bloc countries, nations subject to UN arms embargoes, or those involved in – or likely to be involved in – international conflict.