Japanese gov't submits final draft decision on collective self-defense

The Japanese government on Friday submitted its final draft decision on lifting the ban on collective self-defense to the ruling bloc, which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet expects to approve as early as July 1, local media reported.

The draft decision sets three new conditions that would enable the exercise of the collective-self defense right, such as when there are "clear dangers" to the lives of its people and their rights due to armed attacks on Japan or "countries with close ties. "

The reinterpretation for Japan's pacifist Constitution marks a major security policy change. According to it, Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy, the country's basic defense policy in postwar era, would be gutted.

Under the current Constitution, requisites for exercise self- defense right include: there is an imminent and illegitimate act of aggression against Japan; there is no appropriate means to repel this aggression other than the use of self-defense right and the use of armed strength is confined to the minimum level. By this way, the possibility of exercising collective self-defense right is actually ruled out.

Abe aimed to change the Constitution in the first place but found it is a difficult task, thus switching to reinterpret it as a shortcut to fulfill his ambition. The New Komeito Party, junior coalition partner of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has been opposed to reinterpreting the Constitution, fearing that greater use of force by the Self- Defense Force (SDF) would ultimately gut the pacifist clause.

But under the pressure of Abe, Natsuo Yamaguchi, New Komeito's party leader on Thursday backed the government's move to reinterpret the pacifist Constitution, throwing his support for the first time behind the controversial policy.

According to a Japanese government source, after the wording of the draft is finalized, Abe's Cabinet is expected to approve the draft decision as early as next Tuesday, with the prime minister holding a press conference to explain it to the public.

The draft decision justifies the move to alter the interpretation as "the security situation around Japan has fundamentally changed," saying "the country's existence could be threatened depending on the intent, scope, and condition of armed attacks on other country."

While in fact, it is Japan's military deployment that will complicate the security situation in the region and hang the shadow of war over its neighbor countries.

Not only overseas, Abe's move also triggered strong criticism domestically. According to the latest poll by Japan's Asahi Shimbun, only 9 percent of voters feel the incumbent government has conducted sufficient debate on drastically changing Japan's postwar security policy, about 56 percent of interviewees opposed the government's move to lift the self-imposed ban on collective self-defense.