Related News
Concerns over military might
Print Edition
SWELLING crowds had gathered outside Japan’s parliament late last night as lawmakers looked close to passing security bills that could see Japanese troops fight abroad for the first time in 70 years.
Japan seemed on the verge of passing the bills despite fierce criticism that they will reshape the proudly pacifist nation.
As the evening ticked on, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition and opposition lawmakers remained at loggerheads inside parliament, where the expected passage of controversial changes into law was being delayed until at least the early hours of today.
Tensions were running high the day after scuffles broke out in parliament, while outside thousands stood in the rain to voice their opposition to what could be the biggest shift in Japan’s defense policy for half a century.
Tens of thousands of people, young and old, have taken to the streets for weeks in almost daily rallies, in a show of public anger on a scale rarely seen in Japan.
As some 100 extra police officers arrived on the scene last night, Yoko Fujiwara waited with her 6-year-old daughter, who carried a hand-written sign saying: “We do not forgive. Children are angry, too.”
“I came to the protest together with my daughter to show what real democracy is like,” said the 40-year-old graduate law student.
Abe wants what he calls a normalization of Japan’s military posture, which has been restricted to narrowly defined self-defense and aid missions by a pacifist constitution imposed by the US after World War II.
He and his backers say the changes are necessary because of threats from a China it describes as increasingly belligerent and a North Korea seen as unstable.
Opponents argue that the new laws — which would allow the tightly restricted military to fight in defense of allies — go against the national psyche and could see the country dragged into American wars in far-flung parts of the globe.
Tempers flared in Japan’s parliament on Thursday, where chaos broke out as opposition politicians physically tried to block a committee approving the bills.
In scenes closer to a rugby match than the usually sedate parliament, lawmakers at one point jumped on each other in a huge scrum to prevent a vote.
One lawmaker was dressed in black and carried Buddhist beads in a mock funeral procession as he cast a vote in support of an upper house censure motion against Abe.
Despite opposition efforts, the bills are still expected to pass as the ruling coalition holds a majority in both houses of parliament.
Abe has faced fierce criticism for both the laws themselves and the way he has driven them through in the face of public opposition.
There are growing signs this is taking a political toll — opinion polls show the vast majority of Japanese are against the changes, and Abe’s once sky-high approval rating is dropping.
Unable to muster support to amend clauses enshrining pacifism, Abe opted instead to re-interpret the document for the purpose of his bills, ignoring warnings that they are unconstitutional.
Opponents, including a Nobel-Prize winner, popular musicians and other prominent figures, say the changes could fundamentally alter Japan.
“I never imagined there would be so many people demonstrating here,” said Masaya Kobayashi, a 27-year-old hospital worker. “That’s the extent people feel upset about these laws,” he said.
Washington has backed the changes, but China and South Korea have expressed concern at any expansion of Japanese military might.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei yesterday called on Japan to “listen carefully to voices inside and outside the country calling for justice” and called on lawmakers to “take real actions to protect regional peace and stability.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
