Japan, US risk losing military tech edge to China, Tokyo official says
- China’s ‘technological revolution’ is a threat to democratic countries, says Suzuki Atsuo, commissioner of agency overseeing military R&D
- Washington and Tokyo should step up cooperation to maintain their supremacy, he says
The stark warning, issued by Suzuki Atsuo, of Japan’s agency overseeing military research and development, comes as Washington embarks on its own defence technology-sharing pact with Britain and Australia, widely seen as a counter to China’s growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific.
“China’s emergence as a tech giant means that democratic countries such as Japan and the US are on the verge of losing technological predominance,” said Suzuki, commissioner of the Japanese defence ministry’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency.
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Suzuki made the comments during an address to the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, days after Japan’s participation in the first in-person meeting between leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue – an alliance comprising the US, Japan, India and Australia.
Calling Beijing’s growing military prowess a “technological revolution”, Suzuki credited its strides in defence to its harnessing of civilian technology, its recruitment of overseas scientists and engineers via its Thousand Talents Plan, and alleged theft of technology.
Japanese and US military contractors have collaborated before on state-of-the-art weaponry, including the latest variant of the RIM-161 Standard Missile 3, a ship-based surface-to-air missile system developed by Raytheon Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
“We hope to follow this success and find the next ambitious collaborative development project,” said Suzuki, who later added that the two sides were in discussions but “nothing has been decided yet”.
Suzuki also suggested a joint initiative whereby the US and Japan would identify weaknesses in their defence supply chains and share that information with each other to “make up for each side’s vulnerabilities”.
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If such an initiative were successful, the two sides could consider expanding the pact to include other “like-minded countries”, he said.
A Pentagon representative did not respond to questions about Suzuki’s proposal, but referred to a Monday statement about a North Korean missile launch that said the US commitment “to the defence of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains ironclad”.
Japan is one of the world’s largest buyers of US arms, and sources more than 90 per cent of its defence imports from the US, according to the US state department. Its US$23.1 billion request to buy 105 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from the US last year was the second-largest foreign military sale the state department had ever authorised.
On Monday, Suzuki said Japan, the US and other democratic countries must do more to promote universal values such as freedom and democracy.
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As Tokyo eyes deeper military collaboration with the US, it is also funnelling more resources into its own defence industry.
For the next financial year, the Japanese government is requesting 320 billion yen (US$2.9 billion) for R&D in the defence ministry, Suzuki said. That would constitute an increase of about 50 per cent on the current financial year’s allocation of 210 billion yen.
That money is going toward “game-changing” areas such as space, cyber and electromagnetic-related technology, AI, high-powered microwave systems and laser-based weapons, Suzuki said.
