While it is clear that Japan’s legislative body, the Diet, is empowered in budgeting and oversight mechanisms, there is no consensus on whether the Diet wields actual power in influencing defense policy and whether the Diet’s role in defense policy approaches that of...

While many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have extensive local arms industries, in terms of technology innovation these regional producers continue to run a poor third to the United States and Western Europe. Latecomer China may gain the advantage regionally, but it remains to be seen...

This policy brief explains how Japan produces its annual defense white paper and how this publication and other defense reports promote transparency on Japan’s national defense. I outline the process of putting together the white paper and then suggest ways in which the...

Over the last decade or more, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has sought to establish an effective defense high-tech innovation system. The Science and Technology Committee (STC) under the General Armaments Department (GAD) has been a leading institution in this reform...

China’s growing shipbuilding prowess is very relevant to the analysis of China’s defense and dual-use economies. A recent article from the Economic Daily Times says China’s shipbuilding development should focus on seeking deeper integration between civil and military...

Contemporary Japanese approaches to defense transparency are informed by history, relations with external states, the domestic political configuration of institutions, and state–society interactions. Analysts from the Japanese defense establishment agree that greater levels of...

Over the past two decades, the relationship between China’s civilian and military industrial sectors has been undergoing a major realignment brought on by the transformation of the country’s economic and technological landscape. Whereas the defense sector had been the...

Japan’s defense production model is often seen as a successful exemplar of “techno-nationalism,†especially in the integration of the civilian and military sectors. Hence, Japan’s model has been considered as offering possible lessons for China to emulate in the reform of...

Key drivers of change in defense technology in Southeast Asia are regional insecurities and, more recently, the rise of China. Most countries in the region harbor some animosities toward each other that, while not manifesting themselves in a full-blown arms race, at least contribute...