By Clint Richards
Coalition partner New Komeito and regional allies show support for more involvement in regional security.
The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has seen some modest gains this week in its attempts to normalize Japan’s military posture. Both regional allies and the ruling LDP’s coalition partner New Komeito have indicated they are interested in seeing Japan be able to more comprehensively defend itself, and contribute to regional security alliances. Abe will surely press ahead with these gains, as China and Japan have both been unable to normalize tension in the East China Sea since the Japanese government’s purchase of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in August 2012.
To begin with the domestic front, the LDP and New Komeito on Thursday came to a broad agreement for Cabinet approval of a limited right to collective self-defense, according to sources who spoke with the Japan News. The LDP is seeking to have a joint Cabinet statement ready by June 22 when the current Diet session ends.
The new agreement is expected to be based on a view submitted by the 1972 government of Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, in which the right to self-defense is allowed only when “the people’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness would be fundamentally undermined.” The government source said New Komeito had come to this new interpretation because of a scenario the Abe administration has been publicly emphasizing for weeks; the prospect of U.S. military ships transporting Japanese nationals from a conflict zone. The junior coalition partner said such a situation could well involve the people’s right to life and the pursuit of happiness. New Komeito asserts this is a much more limited interpretation of collective self-defense than the LDP had initially envisioned. However, the LDP feels it can use the agreement as a starting point for later negotiations.
Read the full story at The Diplomat