Japan's controversial new security laws that allow its troops to fight overseas for the first time in seven decades took effect on Tuesday, which experts believe could deepen distrust between China and Japan and increase friction between the two countries in key regions.
The laws allow Japanese troops, against its pacifist constitution, to go into battle to protect its allies - also known as "collective self-defense" - even if there is no direct threat to Japan or its people.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday the country's new security laws could strengthen the Japan-US alliance.
"[Japan and the U.S.] can now help each other in emergency situations. The bond of the alliance has been strengthened" by the laws, Abe was quoted by the Kyodo News Agency as saying on Tuesday.
Kyodo News said that the security laws are aimed at dealing with the security environment Japan faces, including China's military actions and North Korea's nuclear missile threat.
China's foreign ministry on Monday urged Japan to stick to the path of peaceful development, act with prudence on military and security policies, and take more actions that enhance mutual trust with its Asian neighbors and benefit regional peace and stability.
Experts said that the implementation of the security laws would surely destabilize security and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, and increase friction between China and Japan in areas such as the South China Sea.
"As for China, it will escalate distrust between China and Japan, and China will thus step up vigilance," Zhou Yongsheng, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.
The security laws will aggravate tensions in the already unstable South China Sea with U.S. interference, Zhou said.
Japan has already meddled in the South China Sea. Japan intends to give three aircraft to the Philippines to aid its air patrols in the sea, the Xinhua News Agency reported early March.
However, experts believe Japan would take into account relations with neighboring countries and strong opposition from its own people, and will not act recklessly under the security laws.
In the short and medium term, Japan will not directly get involved in incidents that might jeopardize its troops even for the sake of helping its allies, as it cannot bear the huge fiscal budget and the absolute deterioration of Sino-Japanese ties, Wu Huaizhong, a research fellow at the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
