Launchers for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Type 03 surface-to-air missile, left, and Type 12 surface-to-ship missile are displayed at Camp Ishigaki on Ishigaki Island, Sept. 17, 2025. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)
TOKYO — Japan’s Defense Ministry has denied a report that it is considering selling surface-to-air missiles to the Philippines, even as it acknowledged that Tokyo may soon loosen long-standing restrictions on arms exports.
Kyodo News, citing anonymous sources, reported Monday that Japan and the Philippines had held informal talks on exporting Japan’s Type 03 medium-range missile.
The system — also known as Chu-SAM — is capable of intercepting aircraft and cruise missiles. It is deployed to Ishigaki Island at the far end of the Nansei chain, where it is positioned to counter China’s growing military activity near Taiwan and in the East China Sea.
However, a spokesperson for Japan’s Ministry of Defense rejected the report this week in an email to Stars and Stripes.
“The Ministry of Defense regularly engages in various exchanges with the Philippines regarding defense equipment and technology cooperation, but it is not true that we are discussing export of Chu-SAMs,” the spokesperson wrote Tuesday.
Some Japanese government officials must speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
The denial comes amid rising tensions between China and its neighbors, including Japan and the Philippines. Manila has shifted its military focus from counterinsurgency to external defense after a series of confrontations with Chinese vessels over disputed waters in the South China Sea.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said last month that a Chinese naval blockade or other aggressive moves against Taiwan could trigger a Japanese military response, drawing sharp criticism from Beijing. China considers democratic Taiwan — a former Japanese colony — its own territory and has vowed to reunify it with the mainland, by force, if necessary.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has pledged to work on abolishing rules that limit defense exports to equipment related to rescue, transport, warning, surveillance and minesweeping.
In the same email Tuesday, the Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed that scrapping those restrictions is under consideration.
