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News Desk

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Publication Date : 22-03-2013

The Japanese government intends to call on the European Union to maintain the bloc's ban on the export of weapons to China, according to government sources.

The government is expected to ask the EU to clarify the continuation of the arms export ban in discussions over a political accord that Japan and the EU plan to sign.

Because of China's repeated provocations over the Senkaku Islands in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, the government wishes to impede China's military modernization to a certain degree.

The political accord is a written agreement that lists issues on which Japan and the EU will agree to cooperate, such as security.

Negotiations for the political accord are scheduled to begin simultaneously with negotiations for a Japan-EU economic partnership. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely hold summit meetings in Tokyo with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday, after which an agreement is expected to be struck.