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Japan Moves to Permit Greater Use of Its Military Japan Moves to Permit Greater Use of Its Military
(about 7 hours later)
TOKYO — Japan took a symbolically significant step toward playing a more active role in regional security on Tuesday, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that his government would reinterpret the antiwar Constitution to allow Japanese armed forces to come to the aid of friendly nations under attack. TOKYO — In a dramatic change that could position Japan’s military to play a more active role in Asia, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a reinterpretation of the country’s pacifist Constitution to allow Japanese armed forces to aid friendly nations under attack.
The decision by Mr. Abe’s cabinet, which had long been expected, changes a more than six-decade-old reading of the Constitution, which had strictly limited Japan’s forces to acting solely in its own defense. The new interpretation, known as “collective self-defense,” will allow Japan to use its large and technologically advanced military in ways that would have been unthinkable for this long-pacifist nation just a few years ago, such as coming to the aid of an American ship under fire, or shooting down a ballistic missile aimed at the United States. The decision by Mr. Abe’s cabinet changes the long-held reading of the Constitution that had strictly limited Japan’s forces to acting in the country’s defense. The new interpretation will allow Japan to use its large and technologically advanced military in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, such as coming to the aid of an American ship under fire or shooting down a ballistic missile aimed at the United States.
The hawkish Mr. Abe had sought even broader leeway for his nation’s military, but was forced to compromise after resistance from both within his governing Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, a small Buddhist Party. In a sign of how potentially divisive the change could be among voters, some 10,000 demonstrators gathered in front of the prime minister’s residence the previous evening to hold a noisy protest against the change. The announcement is likely to feed already-high tensions in Asia, where China is mounting an increasingly serious challenge to the regional dominance of the United States and its allies, including Japan, and making assertive claims to vast areas of two strategically important seas.
Still, most Japanese seemed to at least tentatively accept the change, a sign, analysts said, of the growing anxiety here over China’s rising military might, and its increasingly forceful claims to disputed islands now controlled by Japan. They said these fears of China had made the public more willing to accept the more assertive security stance espoused by Mr. Abe, who has long called for Japan to shed its postwar passivity and become a “normal” nation. Although the region is not yet in an outright arms race, Richard J. Samuels, director of the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Japan’s move showed that it and other countries were having to think more seriously about their own security than ever before.
“This is a recognition among these nations that U.S. capabilities are not what they were,” Dr. Samuels said. “They are looking for a way to keep the U.S. in the neighborhood while also reaching out to each other in new ways.”
The hawkish Mr. Abe had sought even broader leeway for his nation’s military, but he was forced to compromise amid resistance from both his governing Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, a small Buddhist party. In a sign of how divisive the change could be among voters, some 10,000 demonstrators gathered in front of the prime minister’s residence the past two nights to protest noisily against it.
Still, most Japanese seemed to at least tentatively accept the reinterpretation — a sign, analysts said, of the growing anxiety here over China’s rising military might and increasingly forceful claims to disputed islands now controlled by Japan. They said these fears of China had made the public more willing to accept the more assertive security stance espoused by Mr. Abe, who has long called for Japan to shed its postwar passivity and become a “normal” nation.
“The growing pressure from China has changed the political debate within Japan,” said Kazuhisa Kawakami, a political expert at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo. “For the first time, Japanese are finding that they have to start thinking realistically about defending their own country.”“The growing pressure from China has changed the political debate within Japan,” said Kazuhisa Kawakami, a political expert at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo. “For the first time, Japanese are finding that they have to start thinking realistically about defending their own country.”
The new policy cannot go into effect until at least this autumn as Parliament must still clear legal barriers to broader military action by revising more than a dozen existing laws, experts and lawmakers said. However, with Mr. Abe’s governing coalition enjoying a comfortable majority in both houses, the change seems all but certain to become reality. The new policy cannot go into effect until at least this autumn, because Parliament must still clear legal barriers to broader military action by revising more than a dozen laws, experts and lawmakers said. However, with Mr. Abe’s governing coalition enjoying a comfortable majority in both houses, the change seems all but certain to become reality.
Still, even under the new policy, the Japanese military, called the Self-Defense Forces, will face strict limits that will allow it to act only when there is a “clear danger” to Japan or its people, and to use only “the minimum level of force necessary,” according to the text of the cabinet decision.Still, even under the new policy, the Japanese military, called the Self-Defense Forces, will face strict limits that will allow it to act only when there is a “clear danger” to Japan or its people, and to use only “the minimum level of force necessary,” according to the text of the cabinet decision.
In a speech broadcast live on national television, Mr. Abe sought to allay opponents’ concerns by stating the new policy would not lead Japan down a slippery slope by dragging it into distant, American-led wars. But he also said the new policy would forge closer ties with the United States, which stations 50,000 military personnel in Japan under a Cold War-era security treaty that obligates it to come to Japan’s defense. In a speech broadcast live on national television, Mr. Abe sought to allay opponents’ concerns by stating that the new policy would not lead Japan down a slippery slope by dragging it into distant, American-led wars. But he also said it would help Japan forge closer ties with the United States, which has 50,000 military personnel stationed in the country under a Cold War-era security treaty that obligates it to come to Japan’s defense.
“This is not going to change Japan into a country that wages wars,” Mr. Abe said. “The Self-Defense Forces will absolutely not go into combat in wars like the Gulf War and Iraq.” “This is not going to change Japan into a country that wages wars,” Mr. Abe said. “The Self-Defense Forces will absolutely not go into combat in wars like the gulf war and Iraq.”
Rather, he said the change was necessary for Japan to act more like a full-fledged ally of the United States, something Japan needs to start doing as it seeks a clearer show of American support in its territorial dispute with China. Rather, he said, the change was necessary for Japan to act more like a full-fledged ally of the United States, which some say it must do as it seeks a clearer show of American support in its territorial dispute with China.
“A strengthened Japan-United States alliance is a force of deterrence that contributes to the peace of Japan and this region,” Mr. Abe said. He also said the change would allow Japan to participate more fully in United Nations peacekeeping operations, such as by allowing Japanese troops to come to the aid of other peacekeepers under attack. “A strengthened Japan-United States alliance is a force of deterrence that contributes to the peace of Japan and this region,” Mr. Abe said. He also said the change would allow Japan to participate more fully in United Nations peacekeeping operations, such as by allowing Japanese troops to come to the aid of peacekeepers under attack.
American officials have supported the new policy, saying they welcome Japan’s shouldering more of the security burden in the Asia-Pacific region at a time when the United States faces new problems in the Middle East, and additional budget cuts at home. American officials have supported the new policy, saying they welcome Japan’s shouldering more of the security burden in the Asia-Pacific region at a time when the United States faces new problems in the Middle East and budget cuts at home.
However, the new policy has drawn mixed reactions in Asia. While the president of the Philippines said in Tokyo last week that he supported Japan doing more to help offset China’s increasingly assertive claims in the region, China and South Korea have said a rearmed Japan raised bitter memories of Japan’s brutal early 20th century march through Asia. However, the change has drawn mixed reactions in Asia. While the president of the Philippines said in Tokyo last week that he supported Japan’s doing more to help offset China’s increasingly assertive claims in the region, China and South Korea have said a rearmed Japan raises bitter memories of Japan’s brutal early-20th-century march through Asia.
A commentary by China’s state-run Xinhua news service warned that Mr. Abe was “dallying with the specter of war” by trying to remilitarize Japan.A commentary by China’s state-run Xinhua news service warned that Mr. Abe was “dallying with the specter of war” by trying to remilitarize Japan.
While Mr. Abe focused his comments on closer ties with the United States, Japan’s postwar protector, analysts said the new policy could also make it easier for Japan to seek new military alliances with other nations including the Philippines and Vietnam, which have similar territorial disputes with China. While Mr. Abe focused his comments on closer ties with the United States, Japan’s postwar protector, analysts said the new policy could also make it easier for Japan to seek new military alliances with other nations, including the Philippines and Vietnam, which have similar territorial disputes with China.
Analysts also said the decision on Tuesday capped a series of security-related changes by the Abe government that had already gone a long way in freeing Japan to play a larger military role in the region. These included lifting a self-imposed ban on selling weapons abroad, starting Japan’s first military aid to foreign countries since the end of World War II and improving its ability to respond to a security crisis with the creation of a new National Security Council, modeled on the American one. Analysts also said that the announcement on Tuesday capped a series of security-related changes by the Abe government that had already gone a long way in freeing Japan to play a larger military role in the region. These changes included lifting a self-imposed ban on selling weapons abroad, starting Japan’s first military aid to foreign countries since the end of World War II, and improving its ability to respond to a security crisis by creating a National Security Council, modeled on the American equivalent.
“With not just collective self-defense but everything else that Abe has done, Japan is experiencing a security renaissance,” said Andrew L. Oros, director of international studies at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. “What is remarkable is not that things are changing, but that they are changing with so little fanfare. Japan is finally getting past old taboos to face new realities.”“With not just collective self-defense but everything else that Abe has done, Japan is experiencing a security renaissance,” said Andrew L. Oros, director of international studies at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. “What is remarkable is not that things are changing, but that they are changing with so little fanfare. Japan is finally getting past old taboos to face new realities.”