Editorial
Questions raised over proposal that Japan should exercise right to collective self-defense
A government panel on security and defense capabilities has submitted to Prime Minister Taro Aso a report urging the government to change its interpretation of the war-renouncing Constitution to allow Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. It also urges the government to ease its three principles on exports of weapons.
The government has interpreted Article 9 of the Constitution as strictly limiting Japan's use of the right to self-defense to a minimum level and banning Japan from exercising the right to collective self-defense.
Specifically, the panel's report recommends that the government should reinterpret the Constitution to allow Japan to intercept missiles launched by North Korea at the United States and permit the Self-Defense Forces to guard U.S. military vessels during joint operations.
As its reasons, the report points out that a missile defense system will be operated through cooperation between Japan and the United States, that Hawaii and other locations will be used as a base for U.S. forces to defend Japan if it is attacked by a foreign country, and that the inability to take these actions would degrade the reliability of the Japan-U.S. alliance. It then claims that a review is necessary for the security of Japan.
The Japan-U.S. alliance is one of the main pillars of Japan's security policy. The environment surrounding Japan's security situation has changed as the international community is now required to take a joint response to diversifying threats such as those posed by North Korea's missile program.
Calls are apparently getting louder within the political world for a review on the grounds that it is necessary to effectively maintain the Japan-U.S. alliance. The review that the report calls for involves only limited cases of the use of the right to collective self-defense.
Nevertheless, questions have been raised over the recommendation by the panel as the panel claims it is necessary for the maintenance of the reliability of the bilateral alliance, and that an attack on the United States would threaten Japan's security. If so, it could lead to the argument that Japan should take action in response to attacks on the United States, such as those similar to the coordinated terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In fact, Britain and other countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercised their rights to collective self-defense to participate in the war against terror in Afghanistan.
Moreover, the government's interpretation of the Constitution is the result of longstanding debates in the Diet. The interpretation of the Constitution, the core of Japan's legal structure, is purely a matter of legal theory. It is necessary to elaborately theorize the interpretation.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party clarified in its manifesto for the upcoming House of Representatives election that it will accept the recommendation by the panel. However, the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has failed to mention the issue. The DPJ is urged to clarify its position on the matter.
The report urges that the three principles on exports of weapons be relaxed, pointing out that development of weapons by a single country costs too much and that the principles would lead to a decline in Japan's defense capability if they hinder its acquisition of the most advanced technology, as well as limit progress in Japan-U.S. defense cooperation and the development of the domestic defense-related industry.
However, it is also true that Japan is in a position to lead the international community in arms reductions thanks to its three principles on exports of weapons, as the Foreign Ministry has pointed out. It would be unwelcome if Japan sacrifices the regulations it relies on for its peace-oriented diplomacy for the sake of reducing expenses on developing weapons. It is desirable for the government to consider individual cases of exceptions to the principles, as Japan has done so far.
(Mainichi Japan) August 5, 2009