US welcomes Japan’s enactment of new security legislation

Japan, in its 2015 defense white paper, said it considered China a national security threat, a tag Del Rosario also used in referring to China in his speeches.

Earlier, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei has made similar calls at a press conference after a special committee under the upper house of the Japanese Diet passed the bills amid chaos in the chamber.

“We welcome Japan’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the alliance and play a more active role in regional and global security activities, as reflected in Japan’s new security legislation”, the State Department said in a statement.

The Japanese upper house of parliament, irrespective of strong opposition from both the worldwide community and its own people, forced through the bills in an unprecedented shift of military and security policy, the MOD said in a statement.

The newly enacted legislation enables the expansion of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces’ overseas operations.

Also in June, the Philippines, Japan and the United States held joint naval drills off Palawan.

It said the Chinese side will closely watch the next steps of Japan. “It adds uncertainties that impede peace and stability to the Asia Pacific region”, Zhou said, likening the passage of the bills to opening “Pandora’s box”.

Malacanang welcomed the passage of Japan’s National Diet of legislations that would allow Japanese soldiers to fight overseas in defense of their allies.

“In the South China Sea, [Japan] is now chumming up with the Philippines, which it can declare as a friendly nation”.

Analysts said the bills were likely to be on the agenda when President Xi Jinping meets U.S. counterpart Barack Obama during his state visit this week.

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China has blasted the Japanese parliament’s passage of controversial security bills on Saturday, just one day after the 84th anniversary of the Manchurian Incident on September 18, 1931 when Japan began to invade Manchuria.