遠々洛外
  • 遠々洛外のブログ - Far Beyond the Miyako Blog

Collective self-defence: The view from down here

20/5/2014

 
PictureSource: nicovideo.jp
News coming out of Japan over the last couple of days has been dominated by the release on Thursday last week of the Advisory Panel report concerning re-interpretation of Japan’s constitution, specifically Article 9 dealing with the renunciation of war and how this might be modified to reflect the changing security circumstances surrounding Japan. For those who remember, in February last year PM Abe established the Security Law Advisory Panel with the specific task of examining whether Japan had a right to exercise collective self-defence and whether the current reading of the constitution could be reconciled with this right (J).  The panel found that there was no impediment to Japan exercising a right to collective self-defence, as this right was already established under international law.

However given the level of domestic opposition to Japan changing the meaning of its constitution and embarking on military operations abroad, on Monday the LDP decided to put off any debate in the Diet over the right to exercise collective self-defence until after the regional elections scheduled to take place in April and May next year. According to the Asahi Shimbun, this is because both the LDP and New Komeito need to cooperate at the regional level, and if debate at that level became centred around questions of collective self-defence, the New Komeito (whose own position on collective self-defence is yet to be firmly established) would find it difficult to support the LDP position in its current form (J).  

While the so-called ‘grey zone’ elements of the collective self-defence proposal will be debated in a temporary Diet session beginning in Autumn, PM Abe appears determined to have a cabinet resolution on changing the constitution nailed down before the temporary session period begins. PM Abe has already given assurances to the US that he would have the constitutional re-interpretation in place before embarking on revitalised US-Japan security cooperation guidelines. The determination of PM Abe to enact such measures became all the more important following the election of new Indian PM Narendra Modi. As Rory Medcalf and Danielle Rajendram wrote for the Age newspaper on Tuesday, Modi, with his ‘Look East’ foreign policy, would likely wish to establish much firmer security ties with a number of states in the Indo-Pacific region, Japan being foremost among these.

The ability of Japan to exercise collective self-defence has been an issue followed closely by Australian observers, especially in light of PM Tony Abbott’s comments in Tokyo last month that essentially welcomed a more proactive Japanese military involvement in the region. While the Australian government likes to reiterate the ties of democracy and respect for rule of law that binds Japan to Australia, there is also a latent respect for Japan’s technological prowess and how this can be of use to Australia’s defence force.  Japan’s military capabilities have long been debated by those inside and outside the ADF, where there is certainly recognition that Japan possesses formidable military power and would be a strong asset in any conflict.  Hence the agreement between both countries to upgrade their defence relationship, for Japan, unlike other states in the region, has the logistical sophistication and technical ability to complement Australia’s own small but sophisticated military capabilities.

While other states in the region might baulk at the idea of a rejuvenated Japanese military embarking on operations overseas, Australia sees things quite differently.  The degree of closeness shared by the US armed forces and Japan’s SDF represents a powerful military presence in the northern Asia and one that Australia is seeking to tap into.  Combined with the emergence of an Indian government determined to expand its economy and global presence, Australia sees the potential of a regional trilateral relationship between itself, Japan and India.  Such is the degree of enthusiasm of the Abbott government to cooperate with Japan, it was prepared to release only a quiet rebuttal of PM Abe’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine (in contrast to the US and EU), so as not to upset both trade negotiations and the potential for strengthening the security relationship with Japan.

For the Australian government, confirmation of the right to collective self-defence (and the release of defence technologies to those states deemed ‘acceptable’ to the Diet) cannot come soon enough (in fact, given the level of public anger directed at the Abbott government for its ‘austerity’ budget, a bit of positive news would be very welcome, one would think).  While Abe (or more correctly, a joint LDP/New Komeito parliamentary committee) hammers out the minutiae of when and how Japan might be able to exercise collective self-defence, Australia is watching and waiting in anticipation of bigger things to come. 

As the date draws nearer for an historic visit to Australia by PM Abe, expect far more editorials examining the nature of the relationship, specifically the ramifications of an outbreak of conflict in the East China Sea and Australia’s possible role in such a crisis. It has emerged as an issue among Australian security experts in recent years, and the implications have yet to be thoroughly examined. While most seem convinced that Australia would not play a role in any conflict in the East China Sea, or at most a very minor role, the fact that much of Australia’s exports travel through the East China Sea area means that any instability would inflict major damage on Australia’s economy. Hence stability in that area is of primary importance to Australia, and when countries start saber rattling it causes a fair degree of anguish in Canberra.  



Comments are closed.

    Author

    This is a blog maintained by Greg Pampling in order to complement his webpage, Pre-Modern Japanese Resources.  All posts are attributable to Mr Pampling alone, and reflect his personal opinion on various aspects of Japanese history and politics (among other things).

    弊ブログをご覧になって頂きまして誠に有難うございます。グレッグ・パンプリングと申します。このブログに記載されている記事は全て我の個人的な意見であり、日本の歴史、又は政治状態、色々な話題について触れています。

    Categories

    All
    Disasters 災害
    Edo Period 江戸時代
    Japan Australia Relations 日豪関係
    Japanese Politics 日本の政治
    Japan Korea Relations 日韓関係
    Kamakura Period 鎌倉時代
    Meiji Period 明治時代
    Miscellaneous 雑学
    Muromachi Period 室町時代
    Regional Politics 地域の政治
    Regional Politics 地域の政治
    Second World War 太平洋戦争
    Sengoku Period 戦国時代

    Archives

    January 2023
    January 2022
    December 2021
    August 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    July 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    RSS Feed

© 2023 www.farbeyondthemiyako.com. All Rights Reserved.