Japan cleared the way for a law allowing non-aggressive military
use of space, overturning a decades-old policy of limiting space
development to peaceful uses.
The move comes during a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao aimed
at warming long-fraught bilateral ties.
A lower house committee approved the bill, which is to be submitted
to a full session of parliament in the next few weeks, a ruling
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker's secretary said.
China alarmed the world in January 2007 by using a missile to shoot
down one of its own disused satellites, demonstrating its
burgeoning prowess in space and military hardware.
Pacifist Japan's space scientists complain that separation of space
development from the military under a policy maintained since 1969
is one reason why its own technological progress has been
slower.
Unlike China, Japan has never attempted a manned space flight.
Tokyo's spy satellites, launched to keep an eye on neighbouring
North Korea and controlled by a government department, provide far
poorer resolution than other governments' military
satellites.
The new law would allow Japan's military to launch its own
surveillance satellites and an early-warning satellite as part of
the missile defence system it is building in cooperation with its
top ally the United States, the Asahi newspaper said on
Friday.
Japan's ruling coalition and main opposition parties have agreed on
a bill to be presented to parliament before the end of the current
session on June 15.
With the backing of the main opposition Democratic Party as well
as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its smaller ally
Komeito, it is certain to pass.
Earlier Democratic Party concerns about the bill were allayed by
adding a reference to Japan's pacifist constitution, the Asahi
said.
