Shinzo Abe on tightrope as he pushes for change to Japan’s defence policy
Japanese prime minister will need to tread carefully when he makes the case for some flexibility in the country's pacifist constitution
Would Japan send its military to defend the Philippines if it was attacked by China? That's the kind of question Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could face as he pushes for a landmark change to security policy.
Abe's private advisers will today present him with a report urging a loosening of legal limits on Japan's military, including an end to a decades-old ban on helping allies under attack that has kept Japanese forces from fighting abroad since the second world war.
This is not a simple matter that can just be pushed through. It’s complex
The report sets the stage for Abe to make a pitch for a historic change in a defence policy that has long been based on the principle that Japan has the right to defend itself with the minimum necessary force, but that combat abroad exceeds the limit.
A lifting of the ban on "collective self-defence" would be welcome to Japan's ally the United States, but would draw criticism from China, ties with which have been damaged by a territorial row and the legacy of Japan's past aggression.
Despite Abe's desire to loosen the limits of the US-drafted charter, doubts remain about how far and how quickly he can go. His Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) junior partner, the New Komeito, is wary, voters are divided and the LDP's deputy leader is worried about the impact on local polls this year and next. "This is not a simple matter that can just be pushed through," a senior LDP lawmaker said. "It's complex."
Abe's advisers argue that Japan's security environment, including an increasingly assertive China and volatile North Korea, requires a more flexible approach.
