Japan yesterday loosened the bonds on its powerful military, proclaiming the right to go into battle in the defense of its allies, in a highly controversial shift in the nation’s pacifist stance.
After months of political horsetrading and browbeating of opponents, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his Cabinet had formally endorsed a reinterpretation of rules that have banned the use of armed force except in very narrowly defined circumstances.
“I will protect Japanese people’s lives and peaceful existence. As the prime minister, I have this grave responsibility. With this determination, the Cabinet approved the basic policy for national security,” Abe told a press conference. “There is a misunderstanding that Japan will be involved in war in an effort to defend a foreign country, but this is impossible. It will be strictly a defensive measure to defend our people.”
Abe has faced down widespread public opposition to the move.
While the move to allow so-called “collective self-defense” needs parliamentary approval, the control of both chambers that Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party enjoys renders that a formality.
Abe had originally planned to change Article 9 of the US-imposed constitution, which was adopted after World War II and renounces “the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.”
However, unable to muster the two-thirds majority he needed in both houses and unlikely to get an endorsement from the public in the required referendum, he changed tack, using what opponents say is sleight of hand to alter what the clause means.
Supporters say the reinterpretation is necessary because of the worsening security situation in East Asia, where an ever more confident China is pushing its territorial claims and an erratic North Korea is threatening stability.
Under the new definition, Japanese troops will be able to come to the aid of allies — primarily the US — if they come under attack from a common enemy, even if Japan is not the object of the attack.
Examples pushed by the Abe camp have included a missile attack by North Korea on US forces in Guam — they say the shift would allow Japanese troops to shoot down the missile as it passes overhead, something not allowed presently.
China has warned against the move, saying it opens the door to the remilitarization of a country that is not sufficiently penitent for its actions in World War II.
Just ahead of the announcement, Beijing said Tokyo was guilty of “stirring up troubles on historical issues.”
“It’s only natural for us to wonder if Japan is going to change its path of peaceful development that it has long pursued after World War II,” a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said.
The Japanese administration rebuts this, saying the change will allow it to promote a notion which it has dubbed “proactive pacifism,” but that will not entail involvement in military operations overseas, such as in Afghanistan.
“There will be no change at all in our principle not to allow the dispatch of forces abroad,” Abe said. “We shall never repeat the horror of war. With this reflection in mind, Japan has gone on for 70 years after the war. It will never happen that Japan again becomes a country which goes to war.”
The move has received backing from Washington, which has long encouraged Japan to take on more of a role in a very lopsided defense treaty.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College