Japan announced its intention to provide friendly nations with financial aid to strengthen their defenses on Wednesday, marking Tokyo’s first clear break from the laws that prohibit using overseas aid for military objectives.
According to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the Overseas Security Assistance (OSA) program of Japan will be run independently from the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) program, which has been funding civil infrastructure projects including roads, dams, and other infrastructure for decades.
According to the three principles that regulate arms exports, the aid will not be used to purchase deadly weapons that the recipient countries could employ in wars with other countries, Matsuno noted.
The decision to expand the scope of international aid to military-related projects follows Japan’s announcement in December of a military build up that will double defense spending within five years as it looks to counter China’s growing military might in Asia.
The first recipients of that security aid will likely be the Philippines, which wants radars to monitor Chinese activity in the contested South China Sea, along with Malaysia, Bangladesh and Fiji, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Monday.