Japan OKs U.S. export of missile interceptor to 3rd countries+

SINGAPORE, June 3 Kyodo -
Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday that Japan will allow the United States to export to third countries a jointly developed ballistic missile interceptor, Japanese officials said.
The two defense chiefs, who held talks on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Singapore, also reaffirmed a current bilateral accord on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station within Okinawa Prefecture, Kitazawa told reporters.
Whether to export the Block 2A type of the sea-based Standard Missile-3 interceptor is a politically sensitive issue given Tokyo's longstanding arms embargo policy, which bans the country from exporting weapons or arms technology, except to its close ally the United States, with which the country is tied through a bilateral security pact.
As conditions to allow the export to third countries, Kitazawa told Gates that such exports should contribute to the security of Japan and international peace and stability, and further transfers of the interceptors from third countries should be prevented, the officials said.
Kitazawa also conveyed Japan's aim to draw a conclusion by year-end on a bilateral framework to guarantee strict control of the weapons in the case of such exports, given Japan's ''three principles'' on arms exports that ban weapons exports to communist states, countries under U.N. sanctions and parties involved in international conflicts.
As for the Futenma relocation plan, Gates said that a proposal from Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan and chairman of the Senate Arms Services Committee, to merge the functions of the Futenma facility with the U.S. Kadena Air Base, also in Okinawa Prefecture, does not reflect the intention of the U.S. government, adding there is no change in the stance of the U.S. government, according to the officials.
Kitazawa also said Japan intends to resolve the issue based on the bilateral accord, adding that it is ''necessary to realize the relocation as soon as possible to avoid leaving Futenma entrenched in its current location,'' according to the officials.
Under the plan, the heliport functions of the Futenma base will be relocated from a crowded residential area in Ginowan to a less densely populated coastal area in Nago, both in Okinawa, but local people continue to oppose the scheme, demanding that Futenma be moved out of the prefecture.
The two defense chiefs also confirmed that they will finalize the configuration of runways for a new airfield to be built as a replacement for Futenma in ''two-plus-two'' security talks later this month, involving the foreign and defense ministers from both countries, the officials said.
They also exchanged opinions on a set of new common strategic goals that they aim to agree on in the ''two-plus-two'' talks, according to the officials.
Kitazawa told reporters he will make ''utmost efforts'' to promptly address the issue being considered by the Defense Ministry of holding U.S. carrier-borne aircraft landing practice on Mage Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, where the plan is facing local opposition.
The proposed relocation of the landing practice site from Iwoto Island, under the jurisdiction of Tokyo, is part of a plan to transfer aircraft from the U.S. Atsugi base in Kanagawa Prefecture to Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, by 2014.
Gates said he is proud that the U.S. military cooperated with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in rescue work under Operation Tomodachi, a Japanese word for friend, in the wake of the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, while Kitazawa expressed gratitude for the U.S. assistance, the officials said.
==Kyodo
2011-06-03 23:56:15