Japan's defence forces get greater scope in two planned new bills
Tokyo
JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet on Thursday approved two security-related bills aimed at greatly expanding the scope of overseas operations by the nation's Self Defence Forces (SDF), in and possibly beyond Asia and allowing Japan to defend allies in certain circumstances.
Mr Abe claimed, after his Cabinet gave the green light to the bills allowing the Japanese military to fight overseas for the first time since World War II, that they would bolster deterrence and decrease the risk of war. The measures constitute what the Japanese leader terms Japan's "proactive contribution to peace".
The bills, which are expected to be submitted to Japan's parliament as early as Friday for approval, would involve what Kyodo news service called a "major change to Japan's post-World War II exclusively defence-oriented security policy".
They "would remove geographical restrictions on where the SDF can operate, and under certain conditions allow it to defend its security ally - the United States - and other friendly countries for the first time since the war," said Kyodo.
The proposed new legislation is generating controversy both within and outside of Japan. While China's maritime and other territorial ambitions are a source of concern, along with North Korea's aggressive and unpredictable posture, Mr Abe's perceived rush to bolster Japan's security role is also causing unease.
Japanese civic groups held protests on Thursday against the security bills, arguing that legislation to expand the scope of overseas operations by the SDF would undermine Japan's pacifist Constitution. Some 500 protesters gathered in front of the prime minister's office calling for the bills to be scrapped.
South Korea meanwhile reiterated its position on Thursday that Japan's discussions on defence policies should be conducted to keep the spirit of its pacifist Constitution and to contribute to regional peace and stability, Kyodo reported.
"As we repeated many times...(the discussions) should hold the spirit of pacifist Constitution and be made into a direction of preserving peace and stability in the region," Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang Il said during a press briefing.
"We hope that Japan can earnestly learn the lessons of history, uphold the path of peaceful development and play a constructive role in this Asian region," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying in Beijing told reporters, according to Reuters.
With nearly half, or 48.4 per cent, of respondents in a Kyodo News survey in late April showing opposition to the prime minister's bid to enact the bills during the current Diet session, Mr Abe promised on Thursday to fully explain the legislation to the public through Diet deliberations.
Opinion polls "show that Japanese voters are both confused by and divided over the changes, which even supporters say have stretched the constitution's pacifist Article 9 to the limit," Reuters said in a report. Mr Abe has made clear he wants to formally revise Article 9 - a politically difficult goal to achieve."
A survey by public broadcaster NHK aired this week showed that 49 per cent of those surveyed did not understand the proposed changes very well or at all. Fifty per cent did not approve of Japan's expanded military role in the new US-Japan defence guidelines.
"The Japanese people should be proud of Article 9," said labour union official Yuri Nagao, 59, one of hundreds of women marching through an upscale Tokyo shopping area to protest. "We cannot accept the 'war legislation'," she was reported as saying.
The proposed legislation was reflected in Japan-US defence guidelines revised on April 27 amid an increasingly severe security environment in the Asia-Pacific region, with concerns over China's growing territorial ambitions and military buildup as well as North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons development, Kyodo said.
The government will present two bills to the Diet - a new permanent bill that would allow the SDF to provide logistical support for foreign military forces in international peacekeeping activities, and the other comprising revisions to 10 existing laws.
Mr Abe's promise in an address to the US Congress on April 29 that the legislation would be enacted in the summer has angered opposition lawmakers, but the bills are likely to pass the Diet given the majority held by his Liberal Democratic Party and its ruling coalition partner Komeito party.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Thursday the government believes it is important to get the bills enacted "at all costs" during the current Diet session which runs to June 24, a period which could be extended for a month or so.
"Protecting peace, safety and (people's) lives is the most important responsibility of the government," Mr Suga, the chief government spokesman, told reporters.
One revision under the legislation would alter the law on contingencies in areas surrounding Japan, removing the geographical constraint and allowing the SDF to extend logistic support not only to US forces but other foreign military forces responding to situations that gravely affect the peace and security of Japan, said Kyodo. Another revision would allow Japan to exercise, in a limited scope, the right to collective self defence, or coming to the aid of allies under armed attack even if Japan itself is not attacked.
In exercising such a right, three conditions must be met, Kyodo said.
First, when an armed attack against a foreign country that is in a close relationship with Japan occurs, and as a result threatens Japan's survival and poses a clear danger to fundamentally overturn people's right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Secondly, when there is no other appropriate means available to repel the attack and ensure Japan's survival and protect its people; and thirdly the use of force must be limited to the minimum extent necessary.
These three conditions were part of a landmark Cabinet decision in July last year that reinterprets the Constitution to enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self defence.
