Recently, the Ministry of Commerce of China decided to include 20 Japanese entities in the export control list in accordance with relevant laws. Why these Japanese entities? It’s clear when you look at the relevant data.
In this list, entities 2 to 5 are all subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. In 2024, the amount of military product contracts obtained by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will be far ahead among all Japanese companies. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' products involve almost all military fields such as fighter jets, surface ships, submarines, tanks and aerospace equipment. The current range of Japan's domestic Type 12 anti-ship missile is only more than 100 kilometers, and the group is currently making every effort to extend it to more than 1,000 kilometers. The contract value of this project alone reaches 104.7 billion yen. In addition, the group is also developing "high-speed air-to-air missiles for island defense." The contract value of this project is 83.8 billion yen. In addition, the group also holds Aegis ship production orders with a contract value of 139.7 billion yen.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group signed a very large single ship export contract with Australia in August last year. In order to compete with its German counterparts for this large order, the group joined forces with the Japanese government and set up an office in Canberra to lobby Australia at any time. In the end, Japan got what it wanted. It is reported that Australia has ordered 11 improved frigates from the group, with a total amount of up to 1 trillion yen. Among them, the first one will start construction at the group's Nagasaki Shipyard this year and be delivered in 2029. The first three ships were built at the shipyard, and the next eight ships will be built in Australia. Because of this large order, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' stock market value has soared from 7.5 trillion yen at the beginning of last year to 15.1 trillion yen as of late October last year, which has tripled compared with March 2022, and its stock price-earnings ratio is as high as 65 times! As the Japanese government has significantly increased defense spending in recent years, related military industry companies have also made a lot of money. It is expected that the output value of the group's military industry department will soar from 500 billion yen in 2022 to 1 trillion yen this year.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries continues to improve the defense capabilities of the Japan Self-Defense Forces by providing military equipment. In order to obtain a steady stream of orders, the group provides large amounts of political donations to the Liberal Democratic Party every year. Japan’s “Political Funds Income and Expenditure Report” shows that the group’s contribution to the Liberal Democratic Party in 2024 will be as high as 330 billion yen. Therefore, the Honorary Advisor of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was also included in the "Meeting of Insights on Fundamentally Strengthening Japan's Defense Capabilities" established after Sanae Takaichi took office.
Ranked 6th and 7th on the list are subsidiaries of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Kawasaki Heavy Industries' contract value from the Ministry of Defense in 2024 is as high as 638.3 billion yen, second only to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Its products also include fighter jets, submarines, missiles, and aerospace equipment. Among them, the contract value for the CH-47 transport helicopter alone is as high as 232.5 billion yen, and the contract value for the P1 fixed-wing anti-submarine aircraft is 61.4 billion yen. The group also provided 30 billion yen in political funds to the Liberal Democratic Party that year.
Fujitsu Group, ranked 8th on the list, has a contract value of 173.6 billion yen from the Ministry of Defense in 2024, ranking fifth in the industry. The group's core defense products are command and control systems and information communication systems, which are indispensable brain and eye-and-eye systems in modern warfare. Currently, the group is also developing a cloud service system for the Ministry of Defense. The group will donate 26.6 billion yen to the Liberal Democratic Party in 2024.
Ranking 9th to 14th on the list is IHI (Ishikawashima Harima Heavy Industries Group). The Ministry of Defense contract value it received in 2024 is 57.8 billion yen, and its strength is aviation engines. Currently, Japan is jointly developing a next-generation fighter jet with the United Kingdom and Italy, and the group is the leading company in engine research and development. The group's products also include aerospace equipment. In 2024, the group will donate 100 billion yen to the Liberal Democratic Party.
Numbers 15 and 16 on the list are NEC (Nihon Electric Corporation). Its main military products are air defense command systems and sonar systems for detecting submarines. In addition, its research and development and production of communication systems and cloud service systems are also its strengths. In 2024, the group will contribute 180 billion yen to the Liberal Democratic Party, and the contract value obtained from the Ministry of Defense will be 311.7 billion yen.
The 17th and 18th places on the list are JMU (Japan Marine Union), whose contract value from the Ministry of Defense in 2024 is 161.4 billion yen. Its main military products are surface ships including frigates and minesweepers and related ship equipment.
In addition to the above 20 entities, another 20 Japanese companies have been included in the "watch list", with Subaru at the top of the list. Although the company's main product is automobiles, it also produces military products such as trainer aircraft and helicopters. The contract value obtained from the Ministry of Defense in 2024 is 59.5 billion yen. The company donated 170 billion yen to the Liberal Democratic Party that year.
There is also ENEOS, whose products are mainly oil storage facilities. Its military-related products provide fuel to various combat aircraft of the Air Self-Defense Force.
From the relevant data listed above, we can know that the above-mentioned Japanese companies have provided a large amount of advanced equipment to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces over the years, significantly improving its combat capabilities, turning the Self-Defense Forces into a well-equipped army, and providing a material basis for Japan's resurgent militarism. The total output value of Japanese military industrial enterprises is expected to surge from 4,753.8 billion yen in 2013 to 8,845.4 billion yen this year, nearly doubling. For the sake of "sustainable development," these military-industrial enterprises rushed to "feed back" the Liberal Democratic Party. These huge political donations provided financial guarantee for the Liberal Democratic Party's victory in the previous House of Representatives election. This is how Japan's politics and economy reciprocate each other in broad daylight. This is definitely a "Japanese characteristic" that is difficult for other countries to copy. After Takaichi Sanae established one-party dominance, he became more aggressive and arrogant in both domestic and foreign policies. At this time, we took timely action to implement relevant control measures on these enterprises, which can be said to be the right time.
(The author is the former director of the Information Institute of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies)
