Abe makes case to ease military limits
Print Edition
NATIONALIST prime minister Shinzo Abe set out his case yesterday for beefing up pacifist Japan’s rules of engagement, saying he wants the armed forces to be able to enter battle in defence of allies.
Abe said Japan needs to cast off constitutional strictures that have prevented its so-called Self Defence Forces from firing a shot in combat since 1945.
“As prime minister, I have the responsibility to protect the lives of people under any circumstances,” he told reporters in Tokyo. “I don’t think the constitution says we have to abandon the responsibility to protect the lives of people.
Some 500 people demonstrated against Abe’s plans near his official residence, some with banners that read “Exercising collective defence is equal to waging war.”
Abe has long nurtured a desire to see more flexibility in Japan’s pacifist constitution, which was imposed in the aftermath of the country’s World War II defeat.
Academics, diplomats and military advisers have created proposals on possible legal frameworks for military action.
Abe will use this document to persuade a sometimes-sceptical public of his case as he looks to shepherd his plans through Japan’s political system.
Moves to strengthen Japan’s military triggers intense emotions in China and the Korean peninsula, where memories linger of the brutal invasion in the last century.
A spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry said yesterday it had “full reason to be highly vigilant over Japan’s true intention and its future development.”
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