August 9, 2013
The Abe Cabinet is aiming to approve the use of the right to collective self-defense, which Japan’s previous governments have denied in light of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution, by changing the accepted interpretation of the article.
In spite of what it is called, the right to collective self-defense has nothing to do with the defense of Japan. The government is attempting to enable the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to wage war overseas together with its allies such as the United States, even if Japan is not attacked.
In 2007, during the first administration of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, he set up in his cabinet a private advisory panel to discuss the issue. Abe put four questions to the panel, for example: When American warships are attacked while maneuvering with SDF ships, can the Japanese battleships counterattack?; and is Japan allowed to intercept a ballistic missile targeted at the U.S.?
The advisory body suspended its discussions after the first Abe Cabinet collapsed about one year later, but it was revived in February this year following the inauguration of the second Abe government. Former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Yanai Shunji, who chairs the body, referred to a report he compiled in 2008 on an NHK TV program aired on August 4, 2013. “To conclude, Japan is permitted to exercise the right to collective self-defense under both international law and the Japanese Constitution,” he said. International University of Japan Professor Kitaoka Shin’ichi, the deputy chair of the panel, said in the August 3 issue of Yomiuri Shimbun, “We are planning to compile a new proposal not limited to just answering the four questions, but taking into account the interpretation of the Constitution and international law as well as the present security environment.”
Their goal is to authorize the right to collective self-defense so that the SDF can participate in wars alongside the U.S. forces even on the other side of the globe. Their argument is extraordinary in that it flagrantly violates Article 9 of the Constitution which pledges to abandon war potential and renounces the right of belligerency.
In spite of what it is called, the right to collective self-defense has nothing to do with the defense of Japan. The government is attempting to enable the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to wage war overseas together with its allies such as the United States, even if Japan is not attacked.
In 2007, during the first administration of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, he set up in his cabinet a private advisory panel to discuss the issue. Abe put four questions to the panel, for example: When American warships are attacked while maneuvering with SDF ships, can the Japanese battleships counterattack?; and is Japan allowed to intercept a ballistic missile targeted at the U.S.?
The advisory body suspended its discussions after the first Abe Cabinet collapsed about one year later, but it was revived in February this year following the inauguration of the second Abe government. Former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Yanai Shunji, who chairs the body, referred to a report he compiled in 2008 on an NHK TV program aired on August 4, 2013. “To conclude, Japan is permitted to exercise the right to collective self-defense under both international law and the Japanese Constitution,” he said. International University of Japan Professor Kitaoka Shin’ichi, the deputy chair of the panel, said in the August 3 issue of Yomiuri Shimbun, “We are planning to compile a new proposal not limited to just answering the four questions, but taking into account the interpretation of the Constitution and international law as well as the present security environment.”
Their goal is to authorize the right to collective self-defense so that the SDF can participate in wars alongside the U.S. forces even on the other side of the globe. Their argument is extraordinary in that it flagrantly violates Article 9 of the Constitution which pledges to abandon war potential and renounces the right of belligerency.
