A special panel of the upper chamber of the Japanese parliament has approved the government’s new security bill, which is one of the last steps needed to allow Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War Two.
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Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to vent their anger during nearly daily rallies over the past weeks, a show of public feeling on a scale rarely seen in Japan.
Backers of the legislation argue that the world has changed, and that a more active military would actually help preserve Japan’s peace and prosperity by deterring China and North Korea.
Abe’s ruling bloc has an upper house majority, but major opposition parties submitted censure motions in the chamber and a no confidence motion in the lower house to block a vote.
On the bills, opposition politicians attempted to delay proceeding ahead of a committee vote on Thursday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the wrangling should end, blaming the opposition for wrongly labelling the legislation “war bills”.
One opposition lawmaker, Taro Yamamoto, used a snail-paced “cow walk” to shuffle to the podium, while others made drawn-out speeches, a variation that has become known as the “cow tongue”.
Abe says Japan needs the bills to bolster its defense amid China’s growing assertiveness and to share global peacekeeping efforts.
The bill would see the nation’s military be allowed to join its allies – such as the USA – in foreign conflicts in which Japan was not directly threatened.
Political observers are watching how much public support the premier will lose after the enactment and how much of it he will be able to recover before an Upper House election slated for next summer.
Attempting to shoot their last bolt to have the bills passed the parliament, the few hundred lawmakers supportive of the bills hardly give any thought to the voices of common Japanese citizens, nor the concerns of neighboring countries that were victims of Japan’s wartime atrocities. Whether it’s establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New Development Bank or Beijing’s newfound closeness with Moscow, China is looking to push the U.S. in every facet of global diplomacy. Recent protests were estimated to have reached over 13,000 outside of Parliament.
The government is keen to pass the legislation before a five-day public holiday starts on Saturday, fearing protests might grow if the matter is not settled by then.
While the DPJ has led opposition to the bills, there has also been vocal criticism from well-known authors, musicians and filmmakers, as well as some within Abe’s own party.
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Media surveys consistently have shown a majority of respondents oppose the legislation.
