15 October 2015

News Story: PLA rear admiral says Japan increasing chance of regional conflict

The Japanese helicopter destroyer Hyuga and guided missile destroyer Ashigara have been in Pearl Harbor in preparation for drills with the US Navy off California after Japan passed controversial new security legislation to allow for collective self-defense.

Yin Zhuo, a PLA Navy rear admiral and member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, says Tokyo is raising the chance of military conflict with its neighbors if it ratifies changes to Article 9 of the country's postwar pacifist constitution, reports the Beijing-based Science and Technology Daily.

After the upper house of Japan's Diet approved new security legislation on Sept. 19 to allow the nation to come to the aid of allies under attack as well as a stronger collective defense policy, the Tokyo-based Kyodo News ran a piece on conflict scenarios involving China, Australia, Japan and the US in the disputed South China Sea.

Read the full story at Want China Times