TOKYO - As Japan's ruling Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) adopts its draft of a new
constitution this week that would clear the way
for a greater role in international security, many
people here and abroad will question: Where is
Japan heading?
Though adoption of a new
constitution could be years away, the world is
still sitting up and taking notice. The LDP's
historic move will certainly be hailed by Japan's
most important ally, the United States, as clear
evidence that Tokyo is going in the right
direction to become a more reliable and
responsible security partner regionally and
globally. But it will very likely raise grave
concerns among many of the country's Asian
neighbors who fear that Japan's military genie
might be finally beginning to escape its
bottle, 60 years after the end
of World War II.
The current
war-renouncing, pacifist constitution, drafted by
the US occupation forces immediately after Japan's
defeat in World War II, has never been altered.
However, establishing a "self-imposed
constitution" has been the LDP's credo since its
1955 founding, and the party has been in power
almost uninterrupted during that period. It is the
first time the LDP has proposed a new constitution
in writing.
The LDP has almost completed
its work on the draft constitution, and plans to
adopt it on Friday ahead of the party convention
on November 22 to mark its 50th anniversary.
The LDP draft calls for, among other
things:
Rewriting Article 9 - the clause almost
synonymous with Japan's post-war defense policy -
to acknowledge clearly the existence of a
"military for self-defense".
More active participation in international
peace cooperation activities. The current
constitution is widely interpreted as forbidding
the possession of a military. Although, in
reality, Japan has about 240,000 troops of the
Self-Defense Forces (SDF) and one of the world's
biggest defense expenditures, successive
governments have explained away the contradiction
by claiming that SDF is not a military.
Setting a nationalistic tone, with its
preamble containing references to the "love of the
nation" as well as Japan's tradition, history and
culture. All these elements are missing from the
current constitution.
Momentum for
revising the constitution, which took effect in
1947, has mounted following the September11
general election, in which Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi's ruling LDP-led coalition won a
landslide victory, garnering 327 seats - more than
a two-thirds majority in the 480-seat Lower House.
Although the coalition between the LDP and
New Komeito party is still far short of a
two-thirds majority in the less powerful Upper
House, the largest opposition Democratic Party of
Japan (DPJ) has expressed support for revising the
constitution, which would provide the required
two-thirds majority in the Upper House.
Under Article 96 of the constitution, any
amendments must be proposed with support of a
two-thirds or more of both houses of the Diet -
Japan's parliament - and then be approved in a
national referendum with a simple majority vote.
Legislation setting procedures for such a
referendum still must be enacted.
For many
years since the end of World War II, even the
slightest sign of nationalism in Japan had been
widely denounced at home as well as abroad as
signaling a resurgence of militarism. But the
situation has changed dramatically in recent
years. With a sense of stagnation growing among
many Japanese people amid the prolonged economic
slump, a tide of nationalism is on the rise. Many
Japanese also feel more insecure in the
increasingly volatile security environment
surrounding their country. Discussions on
questions that had long been considered taboo have
moved into the Japanese mainstream. There have
been discussions in the political and media
circles even about the pros and cons of Japan
possessing nuclear weapons to defend itself.
There is growing alarm in Japan over
potential threats posed by neighbors North Korea
and China. At the same time Japan is under
increasing pressure from its most important ally,
the US, to shoulder more of the burden of its
foreign and security policy, regionally and
globally. Having the kind of "self-imposed" new
constitution that was drafted by the LDP is not
merely a matter of national pride, but something
Japanese leaders firmly believe the nation must do
to cope with those new challenges.
The LDP
draft of a new constitution comes as Japan and the
US are in the final stages of compiling an interim
report on the realignment of American forces
stationed on Japanese soil. The realignment of
some 47,000 American service members deployed in
Japan is under negotiation between the two
countries as part of the "transformation" of the
US military's global posture. The US hopes Japan
will serve as a strategic hub for its global
security policy through the realignment of its
forces in Japan.
The LDP draft of a new
constitution also comes at an awkward time for
Japan's relations with Asian neighbors, especially
China and South Korea. Japan's prime minister,
Junichiro Koizumi, visited the controversial
Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo again October 17, drawing
an angry protest from Beijing and Seoul. The
Shinto shrine is seen by Asian neighbors as a
symbol of Japan's past militarism. Some 2.4
million war dead and 14 World War II Class-A war
criminals are enshrined there, including the
former prime minister, Hideki Tojo.
This
year marks the 60th anniversary of the end of
World War II. In Japan, 60-year-olds have
customarily been celebrated for their
kanreki - the end of the traditional
sexagenary cycle in which people are said to be
born again when they reach the age of 60. But many
people in neighboring Asian countries would not
want to see Japan reincarnated as a country with a
full-fledged military force that projects its
power abroad freely, just as the country was until
its World War II defeat in 1945.
What
differences? The LDP draft has been
compiled by the LDP's new constitution-drafting
committee headed by a former prime minister,
Yoshrio Mori. Although members of the new
constitution drafting committee are still tweaking
the wording of some parts of the draft, the basic
points will very likely remain unchanged.
By far the most important change from the
current supreme law would be made in Article 9.
The LDP draft calls for rewriting Article 9 to
stipulate that the nation possesses a "military
for self-defense" not only to defend itself but to
participate in international peacekeeping
activities - while retaining its spirit of
pacifism. The current Article 9 renounces the use
or threat of force as a means of settling
international conflicts and forbids the
maintenance of a standing military. Japanese
soldiers have not fired a shot or made a killing
in conflict since 1945.
Successive
Japanese governments have interpreted the clause
as permitting the SDF's existence, however, many
constitutional scholars have argued that the SDF
is in violation of the constitution. Proponents of
constitutional revision have argued that this
contradiction must be addressed by changing the
clause in question to more clearly acknowledge
Japan's right to self-defense. Due to the
politically sensitive nature of the SDF, the
Defense Agency, which oversees the SDF, has been
granted a lower legal status than government
ministries. Many LDP lawmakers are now clamoring
for it to be upgraded to the "Defense Ministry".
The LDP draft does not stipulate the right
to collective self-defense - the right to come to
the aid of an ally in case it comes under attack
from a third country. According to LDP officials,
however, this controversial right will be
permitted, and requirements for exercising it will
be provided for in separate laws to be enacted
later, including a "Basic Security Law".
The Cabinet Legislation Bureau, the
constitutional watchdog within the government, has
long held a firm view that Japan owns the right to
collective self-defense but is not allowed to
exercise it. This constitutional interpretation
has put severe restrictions on the SDF's
activities abroad, often frustrating the US. Even
logistical support for American forces outside of
Japanese territory is deemed by many to be
tantamount to exercising the right to collective
self-defense.
Like his predecessors,
Koizumi has stretched the boundaries of the
constitution, most recently in deploying
non-combat SDF troops to Iraq. Most LDP lawmakers
now believe the nation should be allowed to
exercise the right to collective self-defense so
that it can implement its defense and security
cooperation with the US more smoothly and
effectively.
In its preamble, the LDP
draft states that "independence of the nation
should be protected by the efforts of those who
love the nation", stipulating the right to
self-defense. The current constitution does not
stipulate that right. The LDP draft emphasizes the
nation's commitment to international
contributions, saying that Japan "faithfully hopes
for international peace" and "will work together
with other countries to realize it".
The
LDP draft emphasizes in its preamble three key
elements of the current constitution - popular
sovereignty, respect for human rights and
pacifism. The draft shies away from describing the
emperor as head of state. The emperor's current
constitutional status as the "symbol of the unity
of the people" will remain unchanged. The draft
calls for "international cooperation" as well as
"freedom, democracy, human rights" and "peace" as
the nation's core principles.
The preamble
of the LDP draft sets a nationalistic tone. In
addition to the phrase "love of the nation", the
preamble contains references to Japan's tradition,
history and culture. The preamble of the LDP draft
makes mention of "Japan's history with the emperor
system". The LDP's junior coalition partner, the
New Komeito party, is opposed to the LDP-proposed
inclusion of "love of the nation" and other
patriotic expressions in revising the Fundamental
Law of Education, a law often dubbed an
"educational constitution". The LDP began to move
in earnest a few years ago to revise the Basic
Education Law. This is also widely seen as another
of a string of clear signs of rising nationalism
that has emerged in recent years. In August 1999,
the diet enacted the controversial law legally
recognizing the Hinomaru (Rising Sun) flag
as Japan's national flag and Kimigayo as
Japan's national anthem.
Growing chorus
for changes Seiji Maehara, new leader of
the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) - the largest
opposition party - is known as a steadfast
proponent of constitutional revision and
strengthened security alliance with the US.
Shortly before taking the helm of the DPJ, Maehara
said: "It's completely meaningless to dogmatically
discuss the right to collective self-defense
without considering the alliance with the US. We
shouldn't avoid a realistic discussion."
Under the leadership of Maehara, the DPJ
is working on its own proposal for a new
constitution, a move apparently aimed at
countering the LDP-led debate on the issue. The
proposal will be announced by the end of this
month at the earliest. The draft of the proposal,
made known recently, calls for the constitution to
be revised to stipulate "a constrained right to
self-defense" in line with the UN Charter. This
phrase is widely interpreted as endorsing the
limited execution of the right to collective
self-defense. The DPJ draft proposal calls for
allowing the SDF to participate in UN-led
collective security activities, such as
multinational forces and peacekeeping operations,
even if doing so involves the use of force.
Meanwhile, the New Komeito party, backed
by the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai,
remains reluctant about rewriting Article 9,
although it has expressed an intention to seek the
addition of environment and privacy rights to the
constitution. The two smaller opposition parties -
the Japanese Communist Party and Social Democratic
Party - are adamantly opposed to changing even one
letter of the constitution.
Outside of the
political circles, Japan's major business lobbies,
including the Japan Business Federation, chaired
by Toyota Motor Chairman Hiroshi Okuda, have also
called for changes in the current constitution,
including Article 9.
Edward J Lincoln, a
senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations,
says, it is very unlikely a revised constitution
will be realized for at least a year or two. "This
is an issue that has been hanging over the
Japanese for the 57 or 58 years the constitution
has been in effect. It's getting closer to a real
possibility, but this is a kind of wrenching
public debate that is really still in the early
phases in Japan," Lincoln said in a recent
interview with a US think tank. "Certainly, the
outcome of this [September 11] election, with a
resurgence of support for the LDP, moves the
process in the direction of revising the
constitution. I think we're still looking at a
five to 10 year horizon for that issue. There's a
lot of open debate that still needs to take
place."
Proponents of constitutional
revision clearly have winds in their sail in
political and business circles. But the Japanese
public has mixed views. A survey published October
5 by the liberal national daily, Mainichi Shimbun,
showed that nearly two-thirds of Japanese citizens
oppose revising Article 9, although a majority of
them favor other changes to the constitution.
Revived debate on constitutional
revision The current constitution was
promulgated on November 3, 1946 and took effect on
May 3, 1947. The constitution has never been
altered since, in stark contrast with Japan's
World War II ally, Germany. Including the period
when it was called West Germany until its 1990
unification with communist East Germany, German
has changed its basic law - or constitution - more
than 40 times since the war.
Moves toward
establishing a "self-imposed constitution" became
active after Japan regained independence with the
San Francisco Peace Treaty, which took effect
April 28, 1952.
In 2000, constitution
study committees were set up in both houses of the
diet. It was the first time that such diet
committees had been established in the nation's
post-war history. The committees both ended their
missions by releasing final reports on their
findings in April this year. But the committees,
which included lawmakers from the communist and
socialist parties, objecting to any constitutional
revision, failed to reach a consensus on key
issues such as Article 9. The diet committees had
no mandate to draft a new constitution.
Watershed in Japan's security
policy A turning point in Japan's defense
and security policy came in the early 1990s.
Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait
in the summer of 1990, triggering the first Gulf
War the following year. The US-led multinational
forces were dispatched to the Middle East under a
United Nations resolution. Japan chipped in a
total of US$13 billion to assist the multinational
forces, but did not send the SDF to join the
forces. Japan was accused in the US and elsewhere
of engaging in "checkbook diplomacy" by just
paying huge amounts of money without making
personnel contributions. Only after the war ended,
did Japan finally manage to dispatch minesweepers
to the Gulf.
Learning a lesson from its
bitter experience during the first Gulf War, Japan
began to establish a legal framework for making
greater personnel contributions to international
peace cooperation activities. In June 1992, Japan
enacted a new law to enable the SDF to join
UN-sponsored peacekeeping operations, or PKO,
abroad. Under the law, SDF engineering troops were
dispatched to join UN peacekeeping efforts in
Cambodia prior to the country's first election
held in the spring of 1993 after years of deadly
civil war. It marked the first overseas mission
for SDF troops. Sending troops abroad had
previously been a taboo in Japan because of the
country's war-renouncing, post-World War II
constitution. Japan has since sent SDF troops to
join UN peacekeeping operations in Mozambique, the
Golan Heights, East Timor and other places.
The law to cooperate with UN peacekeeping
operations sets four principles for sending SDF
troops abroad:
The existence of a cease-fire agreement among
the parties to the conflict.
The existence of consent for a UN peacekeeping
operation from the host country or countries as
well as the parties to the conflict.
The impartiality of the peacekeeping
operation.
The use of weapons solely for self-defense.
Unless these principles are maintained,
SDF troops must return to Japan. Although
initially Japan's participation in PKF to separate
and disarm warring parties and also monitor a
cease-fire was frozen, the law was revised in
December 2001 to lift the freeze. But SDF troop
activities and firearms are still subject to
severe restrictions. For example, SDF troops are
not allowed to strike back at assailants on other
countries' fellow forces participating in
peacekeeping operations. The government is now
reviewing the principles to further ease the
restrictions on SDF troops' activities.
Strengthening Japan-US
alliance Separately from the UN
peacekeeping operations, Japan has beefed up its
security alliance with the US in the past decade.
The pace of this move has been accelerated after
the terrorist attacks in the US in 2001. Against
this backdrop was growing awareness among many
Japanese of the necessity to make their country's
security and crisis management system more robust.
In April 1996, the then-prime minister,
Ryutaro Hashimoto, and the American president,
Bill Clinton, issued a joint security declaration
in Tokyo reaffirming the importance of the
bilateral security alliance in the post-Cold War
era.
In September 1997, Japan and the US
adopted new defense cooperation guidelines to
flesh out the 1996 joint declaration. In May 1999,
as the legal framework for implementing the
guidelines, Japan enacted three laws, including
the Law Concerning Measures to Ensure the Peace
and Security of Japan in Situations in Areas
Surrounding Japan. The Japanese government
initially faced an uphill battle in getting diet
approval for the laws. But the increased sense of
crisis among many Japanese over threats posed by
North Korea smoothed the way for their diet
passage. North Korea had test-fired a Taepodong
missile over Japan into the Pacific in August
1998. Also, two North Korean spy ships were
spotted in March 1999 in Japanese territorial
waters off the Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa
Prefecture, central Japan. In December 2001, a
North Korean spy ship blew itself up and sank
after a firefight with Japan Coast Guard patrol
boats in waters off the Amami Islands, Kagoshima
Prefecture. North Korea is also believed to have
nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Koizumi and US
President Bush, who both took office in early
2001, have forged a close personal relationship
with each other. Their personal chemistry seems
very good. Koizumi has been one of the staunchest
supporters of the Bush administration's "war on
terror" and the Iraq war.
The Koizumi
government enacted two new controversial laws to
enable the SDF to assist US-led military operation
in Afghanistan and Iraq. Under the first law,
enacted in October 2001, only several weeks after
the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World
Trade Center and Pentagon, SDF naval vessels were
dispatched to the Indian Ocean to back up US-led
coalition forces' operation in Afghanistan through
fuel supplies to coalition warships. By
international standards, even refueling such ships
effectively means exercising the right to
collective self-defense. Under the second law,
enacted in August 2003, the Koizumi government
approved a plan to dispatch several hundred ground
troops to Iraq at the end of that year. The SDF
troops have been deployed in the southern Iraqi
city of Samawah on a humanitarian and
reconstruction mission, such as water purification
and repair of roads, schools and other
infrastructure.
The 2001 Anti-Terrorism
Special Measures Law, which was enacted as a
temporary one with a two-year life span, was first
extended for another two years in 2003. The law
will be extended again shortly - this time for
another year - before it expires on November 11.
The 2003 Law Concerning the Special Measures on
Humanitarian and Reconstruction Assistance in Iraq
has a four-year life span. On December 9, 2004,
the government extended the SDF's Iraq mission
under the law for another year, although a
majority of Japanese people were against the
extension. The current mandate of the SDF mission
is to expire on December 14. The Koizumi
government is preparing to extend the mission for
another year, although it is considering the
possibility of beginning to withdraw SDF troops in
the middle of next year.
Instead of
establishing or extending a temporary law on a
case-by-case basis as it has done so far, the
Koizumi government is now considering a
comprehensive permanent law to enable the SDF to
more smoothly participate in international
peace-cooperation activities, including assistance
in the restoration of a war-devastated country and
a dispute settlement by multinational forces. The
DPJ leader, Maehara, has also called for a
permanent law on antiterrorism in general.
In addition, Japan will introduce a US
missile-defense, or MD, system in 2007. The two
countries have also agreed on the development and
deployment of a more advanced MD system, starting
in fiscal 2006, to counter the threats of missile
attacks from North Korea, which has deployed an
estimated 200 or so Rodong missiles capable of
striking almost all of Japanese territory. The
Koizumi government also has eased a decades-old
ban on arms exports, enabling Japan to export
parts and components needed for the joint
development and production of the advanced MD
system.
Meanwhile, Japan and the US are
now at a crucial stage of negotiations on the
realignment of American military bases in Japan.
In stark contrast with the strengthening
Japan-US security alliance, America's relations
with another major Asian ally, South Korea, are
creaking. Although Seoul says it is still
committed to a strong relationship with
Washington, the bilateral security alliance is
coming under increasing strain, and policy
differences have emerged in recent years over how
to deal with North Korea's nuclear programs. The
US plans to withdraw a third of its about 37,000
troops deployed in South Korea by the end of 2008.
Anxieties among Asian
nations Although China vehemently opposed a
Japan-US security treaty in the 1950s and 1960s,
it began to refrain from denouncing it after the
Sino-US rapprochement began with a 1972 visit to
Beijing by then then president, Richard Nixon.
Indeed, China appeared at times to give it tacit
approval. This attitude was attributed to China's
belief that the anti-Soviet nature of the security
treaty served its own interests. Another reason,
many experts said, was that China viewed the
treaty as a "cap on the bottle" of latent Japanese
militarism.
At least until several years
ago, China's position was believed to be that the
Japan-US security alliance was all right as long
as it was simply to defend Japan against possible
attacks from a third country and did not become
anything that allows the US to increase its
military interference in regional contingencies,
especially one in the Taiwan Strait. That may no
longer be the case today.
The ongoing move
toward stronger security alliance between Japan
and the US has highly alarmed China, especially
since a peaceful settlement to tensions in the
Taiwan Strait was included in a list of common
strategic goals that the defense and foreign
ministers of Japan and the US announced in
February they would pursue under the planned new
security arrangements. There are also suspicions
in China that the real US motive for the sweeping
overhaul of its military's global posture might be
what some call the "soft containment" of the
rapidly ascending military and economic power.
The new National Defense Program Outline,
adopted by the Japanese government in December
2004 to replace the old one adopted in 1995,
called for a "flexible" SDF to cope with various
types of threats, including terrorism. It also
upgraded overseas peacekeeping activities to one
of the SDF's primary missions. The new document
also expressed an alarm over China, noting its
military's rapid modernization and increasing
naval activities. It was the first time that a
National Defense Program Outline had stipulated an
alarm over China since the first one was compiled
in 1976.
Japan's relations with China -
and also with South Korea - remain at their lowest
points in decades because of rekindled territorial
disputes, Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the
UN Security Council and the controversy over
Japanese school textbooks authored by rightwing
scholars, as well as Koizumi's repeated visits to
Yasukuni shrine.
Diplomatic tensions are
also running high between Tokyo and Beijing over a
Chinese natural gas project in the disputed waters
in the East China Sea near the so-called median
line, which was drawn by Japan but has not been
recognized by China. Of the various issues
currently plaguing bilateral ties, this dispute is
potentially the most volatile and could even lead
to a military confrontation. Tensions have been
high since last month when a Chinese destroyer
aimed its guns at a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense
Force P3-C surveillance plane near the disputed
waters of the Chunxiao gas field.
Even in
the US, there is growing concern that continued
chilly relations with Asian neighbors might erode
the influence of Japan in the region and, as a
result, hurt American interests there. Meanwhile,
China and South Korea are closely watching
developments in the Japanese debate on
constitutional changes for signs of a resurgence
of militarism.
Immediately after the LDP
compiled its first draft of a new constitution in
early August, China Daily, the English-language
newspaper of the Chinese communist party, said in
an editorial titled "Japanese proposal to shift
military outlook" that by amending the
constitution, the LDP wants Japan to be freed from
constrains that limit military cooperation with
allies.
The daily said: "It is not
difficult to see the bare fangs and brandished
claws in the proposal." It also said that the
LDP's draft "demonstrates Japan's new mindset -
encouraging military expansion". It concluded,
"This is nerve wracking." Referring to the wartime
history, the article also said,"Without a guilty
conscience, Japan is attempting to turn itself
into a regional military bully."
JoongAng
Daily, a major South Korean newspaper, also said
in an editorial titled "On Japan's constitution"
in early August that "Japan has long argued that
it needs to have military power in proportion to
its economic might, and that it needs to become a
'normal country'. If the constitution is revised,
that wish is likely to become a reality.
"Any sovereign country has the right to
change its constitution to accommodate the
changing times. But there is something that Japan
must keep in mind. It needs to demonstrate that it
cares sincerely about the concerns of South Korea,
China and its other neighbors over Japan's
militaristic past. Only then can the global
community trust Japan as a 'normal country'," the
paper said. Citing Koizumi's repeated visits to
Yasukuni shrine, the paper said, "But Japan seems
to be going in the other direction."
Sixty
years have passed since the end of World War II.
Nevertheless, Japan's relations with China and
South Korea remain haunted by the war-time
history. It is often said that an assailant easily
forgets what he did but that the victim doesn't.
Many people in neighboring Asian countries still
harbor bitter memories - whether direct or
indirect - of Japan's wartime aggression,
occupation and atrocities. For them - and also for
some Japanese people - even another 10 years would
be too long to wait for true, heart-to-heart
reconciliation between Japan and its Asian
neighbors. They would think that talking about a
better future 20 or 30 years from now is actually
the same thing as saying that it will never come.
Hisane Masaki is a Tokyo-based
journalist, commentator and scholar on
international politics and economy. Masaki's
e-mail address is yiu45535@nifty.com
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