Move to send 'alarming signal' across Asia

By Hu Yinan and Wang Chenyan (China Daily)

13:13, December 30, 2011

1. Shots fired during siege of Chinese Consulate
2. China opens wider to foreign investment
3. Online train ticket rush overwhelms new system
4. China's moon mission on the horizon
5. Online banking passwords not yet leaked
6. Transparency of charities fails public's needs
7. China’s car imports likely to exceed 1m units

What's happening in China

Opera troupe gives free performances to rural areas in Zhejiang

1. Prisons relocated in post-quake Sichuan province
2. Natural gas pipeline leak caused by sand dredging
3. Funding shortage halts project
4. Police retrieve $140m from illegal fundraising
5. Plant move revoked: report
6. 3 million mainland tourists visit Taiwan in groups

China Features

1. Web-based training for retired officers
2. Chinese firms need to polish up PR skills
3. The world wide web of deception
4. New campaign to ensure workers’ wages
5. Morning-after pill rule sparks privacy fears
6. Income of rural residents rises faster Opinions
   1. EU's airline carbon tax may backfire
   2. Asian countries refuse to 'take side'
   3. US uses 'hedging strategy' to deal with China's rise
   4. What is behind US 'Return-to-Asia' strategy?
   5. China's GDP growth may slow to 8 pct in 2012
   

   

   1. Notice for "Me and People's Daily Online" solicitation of articles
   2. Minister: BMW+polluted water=irony
   3. Chinese back crackdown on soccer corruption
   4. Pakistan admits ties with U.S. remained tense
   5. Japan's ruling party alters consumption hike plan
   6. S. Korea bolsters efforts to boost wave of culture
   7. China to build first space telescope

BEIJING - Japan's decision to lift its decades-old weapons export ban on Tuesday came as little surprise given its increasingly active stance in regional affairs, according to observers. 

The move, which will allow Japanese companies to take part in arms development projects with countries other than the United States, was followed by a $15 billion currency swap deal on Wednesday between Japan and India, the world's largest arms importer. 

The two countries are also expected to hold their first joint naval drill next year. 

Japan had just concluded its first-ever trilateral defense dialogue with the US and India in Washington last week. 

Japanese Foreign Minster Koichiro Gemba called it "a specific example of collaboration", while the Indian embassy in the US said the three countries "share common values and interests across the Asia-Pacific and the globe". 

Defending the relaxation of the arms export ban, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura on Tuesday cited shifting "international society experiences" as a rationale for "cooperating with other defense partners" aside from the US. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, in response, said on the same day that China hopes "Japan will do something useful for the development of regional peace". 

Lifting the ban has long been a sensitive issue in Asia, since Japan's war-renouncing Constitution and the self-imposed arms ban that started in 1967 followed its wartime aggression across the Far East. 

Email|Print|Comments（Editor：梁军）

Increases the bookmark

• twitter
• facebook
• Sina Microblog
• digg
• Google
• Delicious
• buzz
• friendfeed
• Linkedin
• diigo
• reddit
• stumbleupon
• Qzone
• QQ Microblog

Related Reading

1. China welcomes Japan-India ties
2. China values defense exchanges with Japan: defense ministry
3. Japan relaxes arms export ban
4. China, Japan keen to improve relationship
5. President Hu meets Japanese PM on bilateral relations, Korean Peninsula situation
6. Chinese president: Stability of DPRK, Korean Peninsula in common interests

Leave your comment0 comments

Weekly review

1. China wishes US-Japan-India meeting to play conducive role
2. Japan to buy $10 billion Chinese gov't bonds
3. Car emission becomes major cause of air pollution
4. China's large aircraft: The road of innovation
5. DPRK Embassy in China mourns Kim Jong il
6. Vice-President Xi hails ties with Thailand
7. Sharp decline in economic growth unlikely
8. China, Japan survey reveals positive attitudes Most Popular
   • China's new-type tanks unveiled
   • China not yet global power: poll
   • Aircraft carrier conducts sea trials
   • China welcomes Japan-India ties
   • China's largest wind farm blows into op…
   • China police kill 7 kidnappers in hosta…
   • China opens wider to foreign investment
   • Enjoy bubble massage in a Turkish hamam
   • A warehouse explosion in Yangon environ…
   • China hopes for stability in Strait of …
   

   Opinions

   1. EU's airline carbon tax may backfire
   2. Asian countries refuse to 'take side'
   3. US uses 'hedging strategy' to deal with China's rise
   4. What is behind US 'Return-to-Asia' strategy?
   5. China's GDP growth may slow to 8 pct in 2012
   6. China's economy not to suffer a hard landing
   7. Common interests prevent 'Cold War'
   8. War-related carbon emissions deserves attention
   9. Noda's trip enhances China-Japan mutual trust
   10. Economic outlook for next year could be dimmer