Japan to have 'military' for the first time since WWII
Frankly, this is rather disturbing.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party Tuesday formally unveiled a revised draft of Japan's pacifist constitution that would allow the country to possess an official military for the first time since World War II and give the armed forces a more assertive international role.
The proposed revisions, the first since the constitution was drafted by U.S. occupying forces and adopted by the Japanese in 1947, would keep intact Japan's renunciation of war as now stated. But it would grant the country's 240,000-strong Self Defense Forces -- whose role has been strictly limited to defending Japan's home islands for the past half century -- the higher military status as well as new authority to participate in overseas peacekeeping missions.
More importantly, the revisions would open the door for a broader interpretation of the constitution permitting Japan to engage in so-called "collective self defense" -- or coming to the military aid of an ally. The most likely beneficiary would be Japan's closest ally, the United States, which has privately urged Japan to adopt such measures. Changes in Japan's constitutional status would have major significance in the region, particularly in the event of a conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan.
Although not explicitly mentioned, it doesn't take an expert on Sino-Japanese relations to point out that this move is probably also in response to the combination of China's emergence as a military power in the region and growing anti-Japanese sentiment which could turn out to be catastrophic for a demilitarised Japan. In addition,
...The draft ... waters down language separating church and state, a measure apparently aimed at making it easier for sitting prime ministers to visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's military dead including World War II criminals. Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni have caused outrage in China and South Korea and sparked a host of lawsuits.
The draft still faces major hurdles as it will require parliamentary approval and majority support from the public through a national referendum. However, opinion polls indicate that "a majority of Japanese support amending Article 9 to enable Japan's Self-Defense Forces to play a greater role in international peacekeeping duties, and perhaps assume other responsibilities."
Moves like this can mean further deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations, yet it is only natural that Japan is nervous about its giant neighbour to the west. In turn, this development and the rise of Japan's right is, according to a Japan Times article, seen by Beijing as "the most disturbing of current trends."
I hope that is is not the beginning of a trend of where tit-for-tat measures are taken in retaliation, potentially escalating into Asia's very own Israeli-Palestinian conflict-like situation but to the power of ten.
Sources:
Revised Constitution Strengthens Japan's Military
Sino-Japanese Relations Continue to Cool
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party Tuesday formally unveiled a revised draft of Japan's pacifist constitution that would allow the country to possess an official military for the first time since World War II and give the armed forces a more assertive international role.
The proposed revisions, the first since the constitution was drafted by U.S. occupying forces and adopted by the Japanese in 1947, would keep intact Japan's renunciation of war as now stated. But it would grant the country's 240,000-strong Self Defense Forces -- whose role has been strictly limited to defending Japan's home islands for the past half century -- the higher military status as well as new authority to participate in overseas peacekeeping missions.
More importantly, the revisions would open the door for a broader interpretation of the constitution permitting Japan to engage in so-called "collective self defense" -- or coming to the military aid of an ally. The most likely beneficiary would be Japan's closest ally, the United States, which has privately urged Japan to adopt such measures. Changes in Japan's constitutional status would have major significance in the region, particularly in the event of a conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan.
Although not explicitly mentioned, it doesn't take an expert on Sino-Japanese relations to point out that this move is probably also in response to the combination of China's emergence as a military power in the region and growing anti-Japanese sentiment which could turn out to be catastrophic for a demilitarised Japan. In addition,
...The draft ... waters down language separating church and state, a measure apparently aimed at making it easier for sitting prime ministers to visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's military dead including World War II criminals. Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni have caused outrage in China and South Korea and sparked a host of lawsuits.
The draft still faces major hurdles as it will require parliamentary approval and majority support from the public through a national referendum. However, opinion polls indicate that "a majority of Japanese support amending Article 9 to enable Japan's Self-Defense Forces to play a greater role in international peacekeeping duties, and perhaps assume other responsibilities."
Moves like this can mean further deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations, yet it is only natural that Japan is nervous about its giant neighbour to the west. In turn, this development and the rise of Japan's right is, according to a Japan Times article, seen by Beijing as "the most disturbing of current trends."
I hope that is is not the beginning of a trend of where tit-for-tat measures are taken in retaliation, potentially escalating into Asia's very own Israeli-Palestinian conflict-like situation but to the power of ten.
Sources:
Revised Constitution Strengthens Japan's Military
Sino-Japanese Relations Continue to Cool
posted by Jo at 11:49 AM
4 Comments:
It enraged me whenever I read about Japan's denial of the Nanking Massacre, their brutality during WWII, re-writing of the history books, racist mangga, etc.
Now they want to re-arm themselves and there's no cause for alarm?!!
Japan is the most racist country in the world - they do not allow in any immigrants. Correct me if I am wrong.
The fact that Japan wants a more active role for their military IS every cause for alarm. This gesture is more than symbolic even though the Self-Defense Forces are already armed to the teeth. In my opinion, it signals growing frustration with China and the need to be prepared for the threat against its country and citizen.
The Japanese have not been white as snow. Then again, who among us can claim to be? What I find wearisome though is the blanket accusations made against them. The fact that some Japanese lawmakers visit the Yakusuni shrine or endorse a glossed over version of the Japanese Imperial Army's brutality during their occupation of China does not mean that all Japanese are ultra-nationalist right wingers. A 2003 report in the Japan Times suggested that almost all school districts had declined to adopt the controversial textbook (15/8/03). This was backed up by a more recent CNN report (14/4/05) which state that only 18 schools out of 500,00 had adopted the textbook.
But I digress. What I'm trying to say is neither side can be completely absolved of all responsibility. I believe that the accrual of several events, incl. Koizumi's continued shrine visits, oil drilling in disputed waters, the wave of anti-Japanese protests across Chinese cities this summer etc have led to the build up of tension in the past year in which Sino-Japanese relations have been described as hitting a new low and is one of the reasons which led to the ruling party's draft to make constitutional amendments and give Japan's military more power.
It will be a while before the draft is officially adopted, if at all. In the meantime, this is just another twist in developments which, I'm afraid, can only lead to the worsening of relations between the two countries.
I'm all for a rearmed Japan. Why shouldn't Japan have the same sovereign right to possess and maintain a national military?
Sure, the attrocities they comitted during WWII were horrific, but Japan is no longer the same country that it was then and they have done more to make up for their crimes than Germany did and they still do.
Frankly, I'm more concerned with China's unfounded need to militarize as it has been doing for the last several years. Perhaps if China were not continually breaching Japanese territorial waters and the North Koreans weren't firing missiles over Japanese air space, they wouldn't feel a need to rearm.
China is growing too powerful and it's scaring a lot of her neighbors. Just look at Vietnam, they are now turning towards the United States in hopes of building a military alliance to counter the Chinese.
Too powerful huh?
Let Japan try to get some nukes, then China will nuke them before they'll be able to get it, and all these expats in Beijing are gonna get nuked back by their own governments.
Sure is one way to get rid of all the excess and corrupt western loser-boys in China.
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