The approval of new security bills by Japan's lower house of parliament may herald the end of a decades-long ban on overseas military activities by Japan's Self-Defense Forces, which will pose a dangerous threat to peace and stability in Asia and the world as a whole.
Given that the bills propose significant adjustments to Japan's established military and security policies, their adoption would mean Japan abandoning its "defense-only" policy and thus they are said to be tantamount to "bills of warfare".
The new bills have invoked strong opposition at home and abroad. An Asahi Shimbun poll of the Japanese public revealed that 56 percent of respondents are opposed to the bills, and 50 percent regard them as a violation of the Constitution. Former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, 91, has denounced the bills as intolerable and unforgivable. The United States, France, Russia, Singapore and India have also strongly criticized the bills.
A Wall Street Journal article held that the new bills embody Japan's military ambition under the excuse of the deteriorating surrounding security situation.
Adhering to a defense-only policy and renouncing the right to wage war, as enshrined in its Constitution, are Japan's serious commitments as the result of its previous aggression. Any departure from these commitments will be a violation of the peaceful spirit embodied in the Potsdam Declaration, a document that laid the foundation for the postwar world order.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of victory in both of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the world's anti-fascist war, Tokyo should profoundly reflect on the wartime crimes it committed, rather than aggravate neighbors' concerns with moves to end its defense-only stance.
The above is an abridgement of a People's Daily article published on Friday.
