Oops, Japanese Armament Blueprint Leaks to China

JAKARTA - The Japanese government issued a stern warning to Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd., and a subcontractor company after the company leaked important information.

The information in question is a blueprint of parts of a prototype machine gun for Japanese military use to a Chinese company, a government and company spokesman said Thursday, May 20.

Visiting Kyodonews Friday, May 21, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry issued a warning on April 28 because the subcontractor had violated Japan's Foreign Exchange and Trade Control Laws.

According to the ministry, the leaked blueprint belongs to a weapon to be purchased for the Japanese Army Self-Defense Forces (GSDF), if selected in a procurement tender held by the Government of Japan.

Sumitomo Heavy has submitted an offer to acquire machine guns in a tender opened by GSDF in the fiscal year 2019. However, it withdrew its participation in March, because the number of machine guns to be produced was small and the project had no business prospects.

To make prototypes of weapons before adoption, several component blueprints were given to subcontractors, apparently given to Chinese companies without permission.

Subcontractors have told Sumitomo Heavy that they do not know the parts for weapons. Sumitomo Heavy promised to carry out thorough supervision of its subcontractors in the future.

"Regrettably, such a case has occurred, and we will try to deal with it appropriately", Chief Cabinet Secretary as well as the main spokesman for the government, Katsunobu Kato, in his press statement.