Why a Japan missile sale to the Philippines is raising eyebrows in China
Japan is considering exporting a homegrown missile system to the Philippines, a move that could mark a major shift in Tokyo’s long-standing restrictions on weapons exports and which has already rattled nerves in Beijing.
The system in question is the Type 03 Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile, a truck-mounted air-defence weapon with a range of about 50km. It is capable of intercepting aircraft and cruise missiles using active radar tracking.
According to Japanese media reports, the Philippines has signalled interest in buying the system as part of efforts to strengthen its military defences.
China’s irritation stems partly from the symbolic importance of the Type 03 system. Japan plans to deploy the same missiles to the island of Yonaguni, situated only 110km from Taiwan. Beijing condemned that deployment last month as “extremely dangerous,” accusing Tokyo of fuelling regional confrontation.
The talks with Manila come as Japan’s government moves to rewrite its Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology, rules that for decades restricted weapons exports to avoid becoming involved in international conflict.
The proposed revision, which could be approved next year, would allow Tokyo to export a broader range of military hardware beyond the current non-combat categories such as rescue and surveillance equipment.
Strategically, the Philippines occupies a key position along the so-called First Island Chain, which stretches down the western Pacific, close to Taiwan and bordering the contested South China Sea, where China and the Philippines frequently clash.
Any increase in Philippine air-defence capability is therefore closely watched in Beijing, which sees such strengthening as part of a broader containment effort led by the United States and its allies.
Japan and the Philippines have rapidly deepened their defence cooperation in recent months. The two US treaty allies signed a new defence pact in September allowing Japanese troops to deploy to Philippine territory for the first time since the Second World War.
Additionally, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pledged to raise defence spending to 2% of GDP by March next year — faster than earlier plans — and Japan has already exported domestically made Patriot missile interceptors to the US, a move that Chinese commentators have called another “dangerous signal.”
Beijing has long accused Japan’s political right of seeking to rewrite its pacifist constitution and normalise the military. For Japan and the Philippines, however, supporters argue that growing cooperation is a defensive response to China’s increasingly assertive behaviour in surrounding seas.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
