The package allows Japanese troops to fight overseas when Japan or a close ally is under attack or an attack threatens Japan and the Japanese people, under the conditions that sending the troops overseas is the only available option to protect Japan and its people and use of force is minimal. They are right to worry: If approved by the upper house, the two bills would allow Japan to go into battle, even if there was no direct threat to the nation or its people. LDP and its small partner the Komeito Party won two thirds of the seats in the 475-seat lower house that paved way to current passage of defense bills.
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Should the security legislation fail to gain approval in the upper house, it will automatically be sent back in 60 days to the lower house, which will wield the final vote. Many stayed well into the night, chanting and holding up placards reading “Abe, quit”, “No War, No Killing” and “Scrap the War Bills”.
Polls show that about 80% of Japanese find the bills hard to swallow, and the majority of them say they think the legislation is unconstitutional.
“China attaches great importance to your trip and is preparing for high-level political dialogue between the two countries”, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who outranks the foreign minister, told visiting Japanese National Security Council head Shotaro Yachi, according to a pool report.
There was an uproar in Japan’s parliament as the vote came around.
“We believe the Diet deliberations on the bills have failed to address a slew of fundamental questions, not just issues concerning constitutionality but also ones that are important from the viewpoint of how Japan’s safety should be secured”, the newspaper said.
Sino-Japanese ties have always been frayed by China’s memories of Japan’s wartime aggression, although relations have thawed since a November leaders’ meeting.
They said the legislation was needed to take account of the shifting security environment in Asia, where North Korea remains as volatile and unpredictable as ever, and China is increasingly perceived to be throwing its weight around.
Opposition lawmakers walked out of parliament before the vote pushing through a set of 11 controversial security-related bills put forward by Japan’s ruling coalition.
His abrupt decision Friday was seen as damage control as the costly stadium was another headache for Abe’s government, whose support rating has already fallen over unpopular defense legislation and gaffes by his party members. “We solemnly urge the Japanese side to … refrain from jeopardizing China’s sovereignty and security interests or crippling regional peace and stability”.
But the attempt to legislate for collective defence has united most constitutional scholars against Mr Abe’s government and triggered deep divisions in a country where pacifism sunk deep roots after the Second World War.
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On September 3, China will hold a ceremony and a major military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
