TOKYO (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Japan urged Tokyo on Tuesday to take a greater role in developing, producing and supplying weapons “to enhance our collective security" amid conflict in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere.
The United States alone can no longer supply all democracies, Ambassador Rahm Emanuel said during a visit to a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' F-35 fighter jet factory. He stressed the importance of stronger defense industry cooperation between the allies.
The visit came after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's trip to Washington, where he met with President Joe Biden and highlighted Japan's commitment to do more as a reliable partner, especially in defense cooperation.
The countries will now look at what Japan can co-license, co-produce and co-develop, Emanuel told reporters. “It's extremely exciting to bring Japan's industrial capability, its engineering smarts, onto the field on behalf of the alliance," he said.
Japan, due to its wartime past as aggressor, had long banned most arms exports, a principle that left its defense industry with high prices, aging technology and scant government support. A number of Japanese arms makers left the business.
But under the national security strategy that Kishida’s government adopted in 2022, Japan is accelerating its military buildup and increasing its defense budget in the face of threats from China, North Korea and Russia. Japan pledged to acquire what it calls counter-strike capability and purchased 400 Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles.
Japan also has stepped up support for its defense industry and drastically eased arms export rules. It allowed the sale of lethal weapons to countries from which they were licensed and the overseas sales of a fighter jet it is developing with Britain and Italy. The changes have allowed Japan to ship Japanese-made PAC-3 missiles to the U.S. to help replace those contributed by Washington to Ukraine.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s latest report in December, only four Japanese arms manufacturers ranked among the top 100 global companies. Japan also ranked among top arms importers, mostly of costly U.S. arsenals.
But Japanese firms including Mitsubishi Heavy say they expect the country's recent shift will bring significant growth to the industry.
Many U.S. allies have been increasing defense budgets and capabilities following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Hamas attack on Israel. To meet obligations of security, defense and deterrence, “we cannot afford for Japan to be on the sidelines," the U.S. ambassador said.
Mitsubishi Heavy's F-35 final assembly and checkout plant near Nagoya produces six of the Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 jets a year and provides maintenance work for those deployed in Japan. The ambassador called the F-35 “the most modern and capable jet we have in our collective defense and deterrence industries.”
Areas of potential cooperation will be discussed at a military industry council and reported to foreign and defense ministers in both countries, Emanuel said.
In this photo provided by U.S. Embassy in Japan, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, center left, poses with the officials of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Lockheed, during his visit to a MHI’s F-35 fighter jet final assembly and inspection plant in the town of Toyoyama in the Aichi prefecture, western Japan, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (U.S. Embassy via AP)
In this photo provided by U.S. Embassy in Japan, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, speaks during his visit to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ F-35 fighter jet final assembly and inspection plant in Toyoyama, Aichi prefecture, western Japan, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (U.S. Embassy via AP)
MADRID (AP) — Spain is in suspense Monday as it waits for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to announce whether he will continue in office.
Sánchez shocked the country on Wednesday, announcing he was taking five days off to think about his future after a court opened preliminary proceedings against his wife on corruption allegations.
Sánchez essentially has four options: resign, seek a parliamentary vote of confidence, call a new election or remain in office. He is to announce his decision at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT).
Any one of those choices could upset key legislative plans as well as a crucial election in the Catalonia region in May and the European Parliament election in June.
Sánchez, 52, has been Spain’s prime minister since 2018. He was able to form a new minority leftist coalition government in November to start another four-year term thanks to the exceedingly fragile support of a handful of small regional parties. He is one of Europe’s longest-serving Socialist leaders and, while popular internationally, he divides opinion in Spain.
The legal complaint against Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, was filed by a far-right legal platform that says Gómez used her position to influence business deals.
The group, Manos Limpias, or “Clean Hands,” acknowledged that the complaint was based on newspaper articles. Spanish prosecutors say it should be thrown out.
Sánchez said the move was too personal an attack on his family and he needed time to decide on his priorities.
“Total uncertainty before Sánchez’s decision,” read the front-page headline of leading Spanish daily El País.
Sánchez blames the investigation on online news sites politically aligned with the leading opposition conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox party that spread what he called “spurious” allegations.
His supporters say this should be a wake-up call to react against baseless attacks that are poisoning Spanish politics.
Several demonstrations were held in Madrid in his support over the weekend.
The Popular Party, however, said Sánchez’s behavior was frivolous, adolescent and unbecoming of a European leader. It said the decision was a tactical ploy to whip up support for electoral purposes.
Nagore Calvo Mendizabal, a senior lecturer in Spanish and European politics and society at King’s College London, said that Sanchez’s decision could be “another of his political maneuvers" and that it could benefit him by whipping up support nationally in the battle against attacks from the right.
Find more of AP's Europe coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/europe
FILE - A poster of the leader of Socialist Party Pedro Sanchez is ripped out in Madrid, Dec. 16, 2015. Spain is in nail-biting suspense Monday as it waits for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to announce whether he will continue in office or not. Sanchez, 52, shocked the country on Thursday, announcing he was taking five days off to think about his future after a court opened preliminary proceedings against his wife on corruption allegations. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, File)
FILE - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez addresses the media at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. Spain is in nail-biting suspense Monday as it waits for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to announce whether he will continue in office or not. Sanchez, 52, shocked the country on Thursday, announcing he was taking five days off to think about his future after a court opened preliminary proceedings against his wife on corruption allegations. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
FILE - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez next to his wife Begona Gomez, gives a thumb up during a campaign closing meeting in Madrid, Spain, Friday, July 21, 2023. Spain is in nail-biting suspense Monday as it waits for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to announce whether he will continue in office or not. Sanchez, 52, shocked the country on Thursday, announcing he was taking five days off to think about his future after a court opened preliminary proceedings against his wife on corruption allegations. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
