A Major Shift in Japan’s Defense Policy

<正>The upper house of the National Diet of Japan—the Japanese equivalent of the U.S.Congress—enacted new security legislation on September 19that will allow its military,referred to as the Self-Defense Forces,to participate in military operations abroad for the first time since World War II(WWII).The bills,which Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been pushing for since July,also include laws that will ease restrictions on Japan's use of force     

Dishonest Abe

The fact that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized so unabashedly to American victims of his country’s orld War II aggression while acknowledging crimes against their Asian victims in much looser terms has once again drawn the ire of Japan’s immediate neighbors.     

Japan Bids Farewell to Pacifism

正ON July 1,2014,Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration adopted a cabinet resolution to"reinterpret"the constitution and so allow the country to exercise collective self-defense.Since Abe took office in December 2012,his administration has consistently sought to break with the restrictions of Article 9 of Japan’s pacifist constitution,which renounces"the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes."The resolution in effect reflects Abe’s ultimate aim.Although the Abe administration has issued specific restrictions on the right to collective self-defense,and there are constraints on Japan’s use of military force,this reinterpretation nonetheless marks a turning point in Japan’s histori-     

Abe's Double-Dealing

<正>Japan’s latest diplomatic attempts may prove to be in vainAt the end of 2016,Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a combined diplomatic move with Russia and the United States.In mid-December,Abe first had talks with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin on a decades-old territorial dispute over four islands in the Pacific,which are called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in     

Abe Sticks toHis Guns

<正>Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s remarks on WWII add insult to injury Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a troubling statement marking the70th anniversary of the end of the World War II(WWII)during a press conference at his office in Tokyo on August 14.Its wording had been approved by the cabinet and echoes the Japanese Government’s official stance in the     

More Damage to Japan＇s Image

正MY daughter,who is studying a master’s degree at Japan’s Waseda University,always asks me:Most people I meet in Japan are quite amiable,and Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is popular among the Japanese people,so why does China accuse Japan of deviating to the right?Shigeru Ishiba,secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan,formerly Japan’s defense minister,also asked me during a China-Japan thinktank forum:Japan has kept to a peaceful road for decades since WWII,so why does China insist that Japan’s militarism is undergoing a     

Huddle Together

The European Union (EU) and Japan signed the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement(EPA) in Tokyo on July 17,mark-ing the creation of one of the world's largest free trade blocs covering 600 million people and constituting around 30 percent of the global GDP. Leaders from both sides have high expec-tations for the EPA. European Council President Donald Tusk described it as a "light in the dark-ness" for international trade while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the EPA "shows the unwavering political resolve of Japan and the EU to lead the world as flagbearers of free trade amid growing protectionism."     

The Road From Talk to Action

正Beijing and Tokyo must reconcile their differences The rift between China and Japan shows signs of healing,as evidenced by the brief meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the 2016 APEC forum in Lima,Peru,on     

Doing Justice To the Past

正China has declared Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe an unwelcome visitor following his recent visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.When asked whether Chinese leaders would listen to his explanations for the shrine visit in person,a Foreign Ministry spokesman ruled out the possibility by saying that Abe has"shut the door"on dialogue.China is not alone.The U.S.State Department also expressed disappointment at Abe’s visit     

Don＇t Let the Yasukuni Shrine Shatter Sino-Japanese Relations

正JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid homage on December 26,2013 to the Yasukuni Shrine,so further imperiling the already fragile security situation in East Asia.Abe later told media representatives that the purpose of his visit was to report to deceased ancestors on the government’s performance over the past year,state his resolve to carry out reforms,and pledge that Japan"will never go to war again."     

Japan's Image Further Destroyed

正My daughter,who is now studying for her master’s degree at Japan’s Waseda University,always asks me:most people I meet in Japan are quite amiable,and Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is liked by the Japanese people,so why does China accuse Japan of deviating to the right?Shigeru Ishiba,Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan,who used to be Japan’s defense minister,also posed a question to me during a China-Japan     

Redline Underscored

Henry Hyde, Chairman of the U.S. House International Relations Committee, warned May 15 that Congress would not welcome visiting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to speak, unless he gave his assurance to discontinue his controversial     

Political Fallout in Japan

Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma resigned in early July after making controversial remarks about the U.S. atomic bombings during World War II. While speaking at a Chiba Prefecture university on June 30, Kyuma said that those bombings ended the war, and that “it could not be helped.” His remarks drew criticism from the Japanese, especially those who survived the two atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After Kyuma resigned, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration appointed Yuriko Koike, the country’s national security adviser, as Japan’s first female defense minister. Beijing Review talked with foreign affairs experts in China and the United States about whether Kyuma’s remarks will put a damper on U.S.-Japanese relations.     

Abe Extends The Right Hand

正The Japanese prime minister reshuffles cabinet ahead of constitutional pledge Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finalized his cabinet reshuffle on August 3,his third such maneuver since he took office in 2012.Through the latest reorganization,Abe seeks to create a cabinet favorable to the continuation of the leader’s policy.     

A Bromance?

From playing golf with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to watching a sumo tour name nt, where he prese nted a special "President's Cup" to the winner, to enjoying a lavish state banquet, U.S. Preside nt Donald Trump was treated to a series of high-profile activities brimming with pomp and circumstance during his recent visit to Japan.     

CLEARING AWAY THE ICE China and Japan are on the right path to developing a "culture of trust"

"If Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China last October was an ice-breaking journey, I hope that my visit to Japan in April will be an ice-melting one," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at a press conference on March 16 con-cluding the annual session of the National People's Congress.     

Safeguarding the Pacifist Constitution

<正>On August 15,1995,the then Japanese Prime Minister,Tomiichi Murayama,released a landmark document known as the Murayama Statement to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II(WWII).Twenty years later,Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to release his statement marking the end of the war on August 15.Will Abe’s statement inherit the spirit of the Murayama Statement?This and other questions will be of great import for all nations,particularly China and South Korea.In a recent exclusive interview with People’s China,a Beijing-based Japanese-language magazine,Murayama talked about the ins and outs of the Murayama Statement.He also stated that to safeguard the hard-won pacifism of post-WWII Japan,his country should hold fast to its pacifist constitution.An excerpt of the interview follows:     

Introspection for A Peaceful Future

<正>In 2015,which marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,Asian countries that suffered under Imperial Japan’s expansionism will call for international justice with one voice,demanding Japan take a responsible stance by acknowledging its past militarism.Early this year,U.S.Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert and spokespersons of the U.S.Department of State stated publicly that they hope Japanese Prime Minister     

Abe’s Lousy Souvenir

Japanese prime minister’s U.S. trip didn’t go as expected due to differing demands in East Asia Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was finally invited to the White House in late February.But his long-awaited Washington trip did not culminate with a satisfying souvenir to take home.He failed to get what he wanted from the United States onthe Diaoyu Islands issue,but promised to sign the     

One Project Cannot Tell All

正India’s first high-speed railway will be built in 2017using Japanese Shinkansen technology,an agreement finalized during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India in December 2015.This 505-km route,with a total investment from Japan worth 980 billion rupees($14.68 billion),will link the Indian financial hub of Mumbai with Ahmedabad,the commercial center of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state,