Japan is likely to move a joint research project with the United States on a new missile shield to the development phase soon and believes it can win China's understanding, Defence Minister Yoshinori Ohno said on Friday. Japan, which decided last December to buy a U.S.-made missile defence system, joined in the joint research on a next generation shield after North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile that passed over Japan in 1998. "Is it okay just to conduct joint technological research? That would mean just studying and not carrying it out. This will eventually lead to the joint development and production phase," Ohno told Reuters in an interview. "If it doesn't there will surely be a question as to why we are doing joint technological research," he said. Asked when Japan would move the project to the development and production phase, Ohno said: "I think that will happen in the not too distant future." He did not give a specific date. Ohno said he believed Tokyo could gain the understanding of China, which has viewed the missile defence system as a way of keeping its military capabilities in check. Ohno, who took over the defence portfolio last month, also said there should be a debate on whether to relax Japan's self-imposed ban on arms exports. An advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi recently recommended that Japan ease the decades-old ban on arms exports at least to the United States. Officials say the relaxation is needed for Japan to export missile defence components to its close security ally. Given Japan's various efforts towards international peacekeeping, including its dispatch of non-combat troops to help rebuild Iraq, Ohno said he thought Japan could gain China's understanding for a decision to move ahead on missile defence "Regarding such concerns, I think we will surely gain their understanding," Ohno said. Japan has stopped short of moving the project to the development stage partly for fear of angering China.
