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(Corrected) New Japan-U.S. Space Policy Framework Needed: Defense Expert

Posted on: Thursday, 24 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

(Correcting the title of Campbell in the third paragraph:) New Japan-U.S. Space Policy Framework Needed: Defense Expert

Washington, July 23 (Jiji Press)--Japan and the United States should develop a new governing framework for their space policy, U.S. defense expert Kurt Campbell said in a report Wednesday.

The report, released by influential U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, assessed Japan-U.S. space policy and outlined ways to ensure that each country get maximum returns on their investments in space, in terms of science, commerce and security.

In the report, Campbell, director of the CSIS International Security Program and former deputy assistance secretary of defense, called for further Japan-U.S. cooperation in security-related space policy issues.

He proposed institutional reform in Japan that would allow the Japanese Defense Agency to take part in the nation's space policy. The U.S. Department of Defense "needs a counterpart for space policy in Japan, and the JDA (the Japanese Defense Agency) is the appropriate entity to assume this role," the report said.

Campbell urged Japan to revise its 1969 parliamentary resolution on space use, which limits the nation to scientific and commercial space activities, in order to authorize military-related space activities amid new threats to regional security.

Calling the resolution "out-of-date," Campbell said Japan should clarify that "military-related space activities that are 'defensive' or 'nonaggressive' in nature...are acceptable."

Although the report did not refer to U.S.-Japan missile defense cooperation, it apparently aims to pave the way for future collaboration.

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