Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe has taken a significant step towards securing permission for country's military to fight abroad for the first time since the Second World War following the cabinet approval of new security bills.
The legislation, which marks a clear shift in Japan’s postwar security policies, will remove geographic restrictions on where the nation’s self-defence forces can operate.
The controversial bills have strictly divided the Japanese public, with hundreds of protestors rallying outside the prime minister’s office and across Tokyo on Thursday in opposition of the so-called “war legislation”.
However, Mr Abe defended the new bills, which align with the new US-Japan defence guidelines unveiled last month, stating that they will boost deterrence and decrease the risk of war.
Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary, told reporters: “The security situation surrounding our country is extremely tense. So as to ensure peace and stability, we need to strengthen the Japan-US alliance and to enhance trust and cooperation among partners in the region.
"It is important to be ready for any eventuality. The purpose of the bills is to strengthen the deterrent and prevent conflict from happening."
The bills, which now have a formal sign-off from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its partner Komeito, will be submitted to parliament on Friday where they are expected to be passed due to the coalition having a majority in both houses.
The legislation is the first in a string of security bills the prime minister is reportedly expected to push through this summer as he continues in his efforts to drastically shift the nation’s security policy.
Since coming to office in December 2012, Mr Abe has made no secret of his intentions to expand Japan’s military role by enshrining in law his reinterpretation of the pacifist constitution.
The wheels were set in motion last July when his cabinet adopted a resolution dropping a self-imposed ban on exercising the right of collective self-defence, or military assisting a friendly country under attack.
In addition, Mr Abe has also loosened a ban on arms exports and reversed a decline in defence spending, against a backdrop of increased regional tensions particularly in the South China Sea.
Japan’s defence strategies may be bolstering friendly relations with the US but have invariably provoked concern among neighbours such as China and South Korea, with whom the nation is already embroiled in high-profile regional disputes.
Mr Abe has also faced opposition closer to home, with public opinion divided over the nation’s proposed shifts in security policy, in particular plans to formally revise pacifist Article 9 of the constitution.
The extent of the confusion surrounding the issue was reflected in an NHK survey which found this week that 49 per cent didn’t understand the proposed changes very well or at all.
Furthermore, 50 per cent of those questioned did not approve of Japan’s expanded military role in the US-Japan defence guidelines unveiled last month, the survey found.
Among the hundreds of protesters marching through central Tokyo in opposition to the new defence bills was Yuri Nagao, 59, a labour union official, who said: “The Japanese people should be proud of Article 9. We cannot accept the “war legislation”
By Danielle Demetriou, Tokyo / The Telegraph.com
