One month back, on 27 April, the so-called two and two, namely the Foreign and Defense Ministers, of Japan and the US agreed on the New Defense Cooperation Guidelines. In many ways the new Guidelines make us wonder if they are putting us in greater danger.
They say, and repeat over and over again, more than a dozen times, that the alliance between the two will be such that it will be seamless, meaning that it will cover all sorts of situation from the normal times to the emergency.
Then they say that the US will continue to provide deterrence to Japan through all her capability including nuclear fighting power. What is surprising is that this is not a unilateral US policy but what Japan has accepted. It shows Japan believes in the nuclear deterrence. This is only weeks before the NPT Conference at the UN has ended in failure betraying the hopes of billions.
They stressed that the alliance must be made global in nature. It is said that the Japanese SDF could be mobilized to defend Japan against ballistic missiles, and may try to retake Japan's own islands when necessary. One can easily see that this is basically a military document.
Furthermore, they say that the SDF will come to the aid of those countries which are in close relations with Japan, when they are attacked in such a way as to endanger the existence of Japan. It is presumed that the US and Australia are meant by these lines. This is what is known as the issue of collective self-defense. The present Abe's Government decided on 1 July 2014 that Japan is able to exercise her 'inherent right of collective self-defense' as is mentioned in Article 51 of the UN Charter.
A collection of Bills, collectively called the War Bills by critics, embodying the above and more, has been presented to the Parliament, and has been discussed from 27 of May. On the same day Mr. Onaga, Governor of Okinawa Prefecture, left for the US to appeal to the public opinion against the US plan to build a new, huge and permanent air base in his Prefecture. He is overwhelmingly backed by the public opinion there.
They say, and repeat over and over again, more than a dozen times, that the alliance between the two will be such that it will be seamless, meaning that it will cover all sorts of situation from the normal times to the emergency.
Then they say that the US will continue to provide deterrence to Japan through all her capability including nuclear fighting power. What is surprising is that this is not a unilateral US policy but what Japan has accepted. It shows Japan believes in the nuclear deterrence. This is only weeks before the NPT Conference at the UN has ended in failure betraying the hopes of billions.
They stressed that the alliance must be made global in nature. It is said that the Japanese SDF could be mobilized to defend Japan against ballistic missiles, and may try to retake Japan's own islands when necessary. One can easily see that this is basically a military document.
Furthermore, they say that the SDF will come to the aid of those countries which are in close relations with Japan, when they are attacked in such a way as to endanger the existence of Japan. It is presumed that the US and Australia are meant by these lines. This is what is known as the issue of collective self-defense. The present Abe's Government decided on 1 July 2014 that Japan is able to exercise her 'inherent right of collective self-defense' as is mentioned in Article 51 of the UN Charter.
A collection of Bills, collectively called the War Bills by critics, embodying the above and more, has been presented to the Parliament, and has been discussed from 27 of May. On the same day Mr. Onaga, Governor of Okinawa Prefecture, left for the US to appeal to the public opinion against the US plan to build a new, huge and permanent air base in his Prefecture. He is overwhelmingly backed by the public opinion there.
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