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Japan has decided to start joint experiments with the United States next year on shooting down ballistic missiles, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said Tokyo and Washington planned to carry out the experiments from the financial year starting in April 2004.
Japan and the US have been jointly studying a theatre missile defence system aimed at shielding US troops in Asia and its allies, but they have not yet conducted tests aimed at intercepting incoming ballistic missiles.
Tokyo began studying the technology for such a system with Washington, but has stopped short of moving the project to the development stage soon later.
A Japanese Defence Ministry official declined to comment on the report.
The paper said Tokyo and Washington will decide whether to move to full-scale development of the system after completing the joint experiments, to be held in Hawaii for two years.
Japanese Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Japan ought to develop a missile defence system with the US, saying it lacks the capability to defend itself from alleged missile attacks from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
US officials said last week Pyongyang had a three-stage Taepodong-2 missile that could reach the West Coast of the United States, but the missile had not been tested.
A standoff over DPRK's suspected nuclear program has been simmering since October, when Washington said DPRK had admitted pursuing a program to enrich uranium.
(China Daily February 18, 2003)
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