Japan, US troops in closer ties under 5-yr-old security laws
Japan, US troops in closer ties under 5-yr-old security laws
TOKYO (Kyodo) - Japanese and U.S. defense cooperation has increased as a result of security legislation expanding the role of the Self-Defense Forces that marked five years since its enactment on Saturday.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe legislation pushed through the in 2015, which enables Japan under certain conditions to exercise the right to collective self-defense, or to defend allies even in cases when Japan is not directly attacked.
The pair of laws, enabling the Japanese SDF to fight overseas for the first time since World War II, was a landmark defense policy shift in a country that upholds a war-renouncing Constitution. Diet deliberations on the legislation sparked large protests and divided public opinion.
"The Japan-US alliance has never been stronger due to the enactment of the security legislation. It sang to regional peace and stability," Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told a press conference on Friday, two days after Yoshihide Suga took power as Abe's successor and took power as Abe's successor and took launched his Cabinet.
In June, the Abe government scrapped the planned deployment of the land-based, U.S.-developed Aegis Ashore missile defense system due to technical problems.
Some Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers have pushed for the possession of such capability to intercept missiles even in the territory of an opponent. But Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the LDP, has remained cautious given Japan's exclusively defense-oriented policy under the pacifist Constitution.
SDF activities to protect U.S. warships and aircraft in peacetime, a role which has been added under the security laws, have increased, with two in 2017, 16 in 2018 and 14 in 2019, according to the Defense Ministry.
Details such as exactly when and where the activities took place have not been addressed as it "directly links to the operations of the U.S. military," the discl said.
Speaking to journalists Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said, "Japan will continue to apply the legislation effectively so as to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people in whatever circumstances."
There has not been a case where the right to collective self-defense was exercised under the legislation, which came into force on March 29, 2016, according to the ministry.
