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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Japan appoints first space development minister: officials |
| 2008-06-18 |
| Japan on Tuesday appointed its first ever minister of space development after the pacifist nation scrapped a decades-old ban on the use of space programmes for defence. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda picked Fumio Kishida, the science policy minister, to take on the additional role, government officials said. The appointment was in line with last month's passing of a new law allowing the use of outer space for defence, breaking a decades-old taboo amid increasing concern about military threats in the region. 'I feel a serious responsibility as expectations for space development are quite high,' Kishida told a news conference. While Japan has no current plans for a new defence project in space, the new law aims to remove any legal obstacles to building more advanced spy satellites and to help innovation in the country's space industry. The government plans to introduce various space policies under the leadership of Kishida, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said. Proponents of the legislation argue that it is necessary as Japan has fallen behind other nations in space technology, particularly as China moves to capture space business in Asia, Africa and Latin America. But critics, including the opposition Japanese Communist Party, had argued that it could lead to a stronger military. Tokyo has stepped up military research after North Korea stunned the world in 1998 by firing a missile over the Japanese mainland into the Pacific. Japan has also expanded its space programme and is now conducting the world's most extensive mission to the moon in decades. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #3 "My first directive? All expendable staff will wear the red tunics" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-06-18 09:44 |
| #2 Ultra Man and the Science Patrol could not be reached for comment. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2008-06-18 09:16 |
| #1 D *** NG IT, WE DEMAND MONSTER X = KING GHIDIRA BE FOUND SO THAT HE CAN ATTACK AND DESTROY EARTH IN RIGHTEOUS THREE-HEADED INDIGNATION! ION C2CAM > seems CHINA has just dev its own UFO Saucer. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-06-18 02:21 |