Tokyo: Japan will soon launch studies to
work out a fresh defence policy platform that would set out
the nation's basic defence policy which shall also look into
Asia's changing security situation.
An eight-member panel of experts will meet Thursday to
launch discussions on the new platform, called the National
Defense Program Guidelines, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi
Hirano has said.
Shigeo Sato, chief executive officer and chairman of
Keihan Electric Railway Co, an Osaka-based railway operator,
will head the panel, Hirano said.
Hirano, who serves as chief of staff and chief spokesman
for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, told reporters at the news
conference that the government expects the panel to compile
the new guidelines in seven to eight months. The panel will
meet twice a month, he said.
Among panel members are political scientists Hiroshi
Nakanishi, professor at Kyoto University's Graduate School of
Law, Yoko Iwama, professor at the National Graduate Institute
for Policy Studies, and Yoshihide Soeya, professor at Keio
University's Faculty of Law.
Three former government officials will serve as advisers
to the panel. They are Yasunari Ito, former vice minister of
defense, Ryozo Kato, former ambassador to the United States,
and retired Adm. Takashi Saito, former chief of staff at the
Self-Defense Forces' Joint Staff.
The experts' panel is expected to look into Asia's
security situation, including North Korea's nuclear
development program and China's increase in defense spending,
government sources said.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 16:32