By Clint Richards
Japan is reaching out to Southeast Asia and seeking to control the discourse around its new security policy.
Japan appears to be gearing up to make another public push for the right to assert itself militarily, and make larger contributions to regional security. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s statements before the Diet Wednesday, and an expected keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Friday, frame the direction he intends to take on these matters.
Speaking to the Diet, Abe described China’s increased military spending and its “extremely dangerous” recent actions in the East China Sea as necessitating his push for a change in the role of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF), according to Bloomberg. “Under these circumstances, to protect the lives of the Japanese people, we must further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance. The world security environment is changing a great deal. Now, no one country can defend itself alone.”
While responding to questions from the Diet, he said the near mid-air collision of Chinese and Japanese aircraft on May 24 inside China’s disputed Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) could lead to unintended consequences. Abe is seeking to strengthen the ruling LDP’s stance on changing Article 9 of Japan’s pacifist constitution while it is undergoing discussions with its coalition partner New Komeito, in order to create a unified position to put before the Diet later this year.
Read the full story at The Diplomat