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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, June 11, 2003

'Protective Umbrella' Provided for Army Rectification and War Preparation

Japan recently passed three "emergence legislation on war contingencies" bills, which expand the autonomy of Japan's self-defense forces to participate in military actions outside the country. The "three bills" provide a "protective umbrella" for the self-defense forces to further army rectification and war preparation.


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The "emergence legislation on war contingencies" three bills were recently adopted in succession by the House of Representatives and Senate of Japan. The three bills, having thus far gone through all legislative procedures, will come into effect this month.

"The three contingency bills" refer to the stand taken by Japan when it is subject to attack or threat by enemies from outside, "the bill on coping with the situation of armed attack" embodies the definition of "contingencies" and the countermeasures of the government; they also include the "bill on revision of the law on the self-defense forces" under which the Self-defense Forces can make further smooth operation at the time of coping with "contingencies"; as well as the "bill on revision of the law on the set-up of security guarantee conference" which aims to intensify government functions and expand the limit of power for the prime minister. The white paper of Japan's Defense Agency explains that the contingency bill is a legal system associated with the actions of the self-defense forces and the actions of the US forces, its core content is building up a mighty army for war preparation.

The "three bills" expand the autonomy of Japan's self-defense forces to participate in military actions outside the country. The bill clearly stipulates that "contingencies not only include war, terrorist actions, kidnapping, abduction and all other situations that threaten the safety of nationals' lives and property; as long as another country expresses possible use of force and concentrate ships along the coastal areas, Japan can decide that the opponent has entered the "predicted state" of armed attack, and the prime minister will have the right to call a cabinet meeting and issue orders to the self-defense forces "ready to go into action for defense". It is thus clear that the "contingency bill" grants the Prime Minister the autonomy to launch war and gives the self-defense forces the autonomy to go into war. Director-general Shigeru Ishiba of Japan's Defense Agency indicated that once the United States launches preemptive strikes in the Pacific region as the war it waged in Iraq, "it is not impossible" that Japan will start operating the "contingency bill" to assist US troops.

The "three bills" provide a "protective umbrella" for the self-defense forces to further army rectification and war preparation. According to stipulations of related international treaties after Word War II, Japan shall not possess standing troops, so-called self-defense forces are self-defense military forces set up in order to defend the security of Japan's islands. After decades of development, however, Japan's self-defense forces have grown to have 240,000 people; and their military spending ranks second in the world. According to the evaluation made by an authoritative foreign military organization, the general combat capacity of Japan's self-defense forces has surpassed the troops of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and some other powers, ranking only after the United States. Nevertheless, Japanese authorities do not rest content with this and are bent on building the self-defense forces into an armed force with long-distance operational capabilities. Not long ago, the Japanese government announced that it would allocate US$250 billion for the national defense budget in five years. Such large-scale army rectification and war preparation must have corresponding laws and regulations for protection, this is the reason for the appearance of the "contingency bill".

The "three bills" have paved the way for deleting the "no-war Article" from the Constitution. Article 9 of Japan's Constitution, commonly known as the "no-war Article", also stipulates that Japan is "not allowed to exercise the collective self-defense right". But marked by the formal appearance of the "contingency bill", the main content of the "no-war Article" now no longer exists. When he swore in as Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi declared that the current Constitution was a product the victorious nations imposed on Japan after WWII, which he deemed as a shame to a big country, therefore he energetically advocated revision of the Constitution. Commentary says, with the emergence of the "contingency bill", the government work of revising the Constitution will be placed on the agenda very soon.

The publication of the "contingency bill" caused a great stir in Japan. Japanese Social Democracy Party and many other organizations denounced the "contingency bill" as a "bad law" which was enacted not when Japan was subject to attack, but was prepared for attacking others. Representative Inove with the Tokyo Peace Association of Bereaved Families said that the peace Constitution is the "testament of the war dead" and so cannot be altered; so-called threat from outside is only an excuse. Many East Asian countries have expressed grave concerns over this matter, parliament members of the Republic of Korea sent a joint letter to Japanese Diet, pointing out that an error made in an instant judgment would bring the sufferings of war" to the world people. Media report says disturbance created by the "contingency bill", if any, is perhaps not a good thing for Japan and for other countries, and it is not in step with the world trend of peace and development.

By People's Daily Online


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