Defense chief Shigeru Ishiba's rash remarks regarding a joint Japan-U.S. missile defense project deviate from Tokyo's official defense policy and could give the impression that Japan is advancing the bilateral initiative beyond research to the development stage.
The Defense Agency director general made the remarks in talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington on Dec. 17, the same day the Bush administration announced plans to deploy by 2004 a national missile defense system designed to intercept ballistic missiles aimed at the mainland United States. The comments were highlighted by the Iraqi crisis and North Korea's nuclear-arms program and missile exports, which have raised new concerns about international security.
Ishiba said he told Rumsfeld that Japan would study various factors, including the possibility of developing and deploying a missile defense system, while repeatedly denying that Japan would advance the joint research project to the development and deployment stage.