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| Japanese PM Shinzo Abe |
By Mina Pollmann
Looking back at 2015 and ahead to 2016 for Japan and PM Shinzo Abe.
2015 – also memorable as the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in WWII – was a busy year for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan’s political establishment. Highlights include Abe’s state visit to Washington D.C. in late April, the much-anticipated “Abe Statement” regarding World War II on August 15, the passage of controversial security legislation in September, greater cooperation with Southeast Asian partners in light of Chinese activities in the South China Sea, the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with the U.S. and ten other Asia-Pacific economies, strengthening ties with India, and progress towards lessening Japan’s isolation in Northeast Asia through a November trilateral meeting with Chinese and South Korean leaders and the eleventh-hour deal to finally resolve the “comfort women” issue with South Korea. Abe also won a predictable but nevertheless important personal victory when he was reelected as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in September.
December 2014’s Lower House snap elections, which consolidated the conservative LDP’s hold on power, set the stage for 2015. Abe’s overwhelming victory, despite being marred by record-low voter turnout, meant that he was able to push ahead with his foreign policy and security agenda without having to worry about any opposition party successfully translating citizen discontent into meaningful obstruction. Indeed, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) continued to flounder throughout 2015 despite the election of a new leader, and even the Japan Innovation Party split in such a way as to benefit Abe – the more viable branch, the Osaka Restoration Association, split off so they could more fully cooperate with Abe on constitutional revision.
The most significant development in 2015 was the passage of legislation to implement Japan’s right to collective self-defense and the upgraded U.S.-Japan Defense Guidelines. Unlike any other state in the world, Japan had constitutionally renounced the right to collective self-defense until the Cabinet Legislation Bureau reinterpreted the text in July 2014 to allow for it.
Legally, this is a significant change. It means Japan’s Self-Defense Forces could hypothetically come to the aid of the United States and other partners when they are under attack even if Japan does not face a direct attack. However, debate over how meaningful these changes are will continue for the foreseeable future. The magnitude of these changes will ultimately come down to how strictly the three conditions that must be met for the right to collective self-defense to be exercised will be enforced. These three conditions stipulate that (1) the situation should pose a clear threat to the Japanese state and/or the Japanese people’s right to life and liberty; (2) there is no other response possible; and (3) the use of force is limited to the minimum necessary.
Read the full story at The Diplomat