Japanese opposition groups yesterday vowed to challenge laws passed overnight that clear Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time since World War II, while Beijing voiced concern.
Japan’s ruling coalition, led by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, pushed the laws through in the early hours of the morning after days of tortuous debate that at points descended into physical scuffles in parliament.
For the first time in 70 years, the new regulations are to give the Japanese government the power to send the military into overseas conflicts to defend allies, even if the nation itself is not under attack.
Photo: AFP
Abe said the laws are necessary to protect against threats from an increasingly belligerent China and unstable North Korea, but opponents fear the vague wording could see Japan dragged into far-flung foreign wars.
“This is not an end,” said Renho, a senior lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, who goes by one name.
“Let us make it the beginning of the beginning,” she said on Twitter.
Social Democratic Party senior lawmaker Mizuho Fukushima told a crowd who gathered outside parliament during the debate: “Abe’s Cabinet criminals... Let us get them out of here.”
China voiced its concerns, with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying the changes are an “unprecedented” change in Japan’s military stance since World War II, and urged Tokyo to “pay attention to security concerns of its neighbors.”
“We solemnly urge Japan to learn the lessons of history ... uphold the path of peaceful development and act cautiously in the areas of the military and security, and do more to help push regional peace and stability rather than the opposite,” it said.
Speaking after the vote, Abe said the changes were “necessary in order to protect people’s lives and peaceful way of life.”
“This is designed to prevent wars,” he told journalists.
A group of about 300 protesters gathered outside parliament, calling for the legislation to be abolished and vowing never to stop their fight against Abe.
“Our battle will never end. This is just the beginning,” said Keisuke Yamamoto, an organizer from one of the citizen groups that have been leading weeks of rallies. “We will resort to every possible measure, including bringing the case to the courts... We cannot let this movement fizzle out now.”
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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