Islam Times - Japan to revise law limiting military to self-defense

Islam Times - Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the Japanese military mode, constitutionally restrained only to “self-defense,” will be modified by 2020, when Tokyo will be hosting Summer Olympics.

An article in the Japanese constitution, which was adopted after Japan’s defeat at the end of World War II, confines the country’s military to take action only in “self-defense,” hence the Japanese military’s title Self-Defense Forces (SDF).

“As it has been 68 years since its (the constitution’s) enactment now, national debate should be further deepened toward a revision to grasp the changing times,” Abe said in a New Year message carried by Sankei Shimbun daily on Wednesday.

He predicted that the restraining constitution “will have been revised” by 2020.

“Now is the time for Japan to take a big step forward toward a new nation-building effort.”

“(By 2020), I think Japan will have completely restored its status and been making great contributions to peace and stability in the region and the world,” Abe said, suggesting that the Japanese military will likely be engaging in the use of force in settling international disputes after the anticipated amendment of the constitution as well.

The Japanese premier claimed that the future status of his country, ensuing from the potential revision of the constitution, will help Asia become a “balanced and stable region.”

Abe’s comments are most likely to alarm neighboring countries, particularly China, which has been involved in a bitter territorial dispute with Japan.

Japan and China have long been competing over the sovereignty of a series of islands in the East China Sea, referred to as the Diaoyu in China and the Senkaku in Japan.

Tensions over the issue primarily escalated when Japan nationalized three of the disputed islands, which happen to be claimed by Taiwan as well.

Events took a further twist, however, when China declared an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China sea, which also covers the disputed islands.

The uninhabited islands are located near a crucial shipping lane and would give the owner exclusive oil, mineral and fishing rights in the surrounding waters.