Xinhua News Agency
March 4, 2015
Japan eyes enacting permanent law to allow SDF to assist EU troops
TOKYO:Japan is mulling the idea of allowing its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to be deployed to assist international missions of European Union troops, local media reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed government source.
For Japan’s SDF to join international missions of EU troops, the government first plans to enact a permanent law allowing the SDF to be dispatched overseas without Diet approval and legislation on a case-by-case basis.
The parameters of working with EU troops on international peace and cooperation missions are different from those allowing SDF personnel to join UN-led peacekeeping missions overseas, those with knowledge of the matter said.
The latest move by Japan comes at a time when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his cabinet have been busying themselves with the steps necessary to enact a permanent law to boost the scope of the SDF’s permissible duties in overseas operations, with an eye on normalizing Japan’s military, which runs contrary to the nation’s pacifist Constitution and the majority will of the public.
Abe’s administration, the general public aside who stand opposed to Japan’s military recasting, is also facing resistance from its coalition Komeito ally, as well as other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, who believe Japan should adhere to its time- tested pacifist Constitution.
Up until now, Japan has dispatched troops overseas in non-combative and humanitarian roles to assist the United States for example, by providing refueling logistics and heading up restoration and construction projects in areas such as Afghanistan, but each mission requires special legislation and the Diet’s approval.
Abe is hoping to ditch this system, in favor of a permanent law, so Japanese troops can be sent overseas without each case having to be deliberated over in parliament, meaning a faster deployment, as envisioned in the prime minister’s broader plan for the nation to be a more “proactive supporter of global peace.”
“With the ruling coalition parties’ talks on security moving forward, we will study how far the SDF can be involved in the EU troops’ missions,” the Kyodo News Agency quoted its source as saying.
Japan and the EU may also discuss ways in which their forces can share supplies and transportation in operations that fall within the European Union’s Common Security and Defense Policy framework.
With the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II being observed this year, a number of prominent Japan-based political pundits and defense analysts have suggested that Japan’s current military course be rethought and its war-renouncing charter followed for the good of peace and stability in the region and to regain the trust of other powers in the region.
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Xinhua News Agency
March 4, 2015
Interview: Japan misleads public by denying wartime crimes: Russian expert
MOSCOW: The Japanese government has tried to mislead the public by denying involvement in any acts of wartime aggression, former Russian ambassador to Japan told Xinhua in a recent interview.
“The Japanese political thinking is based on an assumption that the country has never in history participated in any acts of aggression, and that’s why Tokyo wants to deny that the Japanese troops have committed any crimes like Nanjing Massacre,” said Alexander Panov.
A Japanese rightist daily recently released a four-day report in which it denied the existence of the appalling Nanjing Massacre, at a time when the world gears up to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, since elected to his second term in 2012, has made consistent attempts to reinterpret the country’s invasion of Asian countries, a move that has provoked worldwide criticism.
“Unlike post-war Germany, Japan has neither fully recognized the results of World War II nor repented for its role during the war,” Panov said, noting that Tokyo is reluctant to highlight the fact that Japan was an ally of the Nazis during World War II.
“Neither Tokyo publicly condemns Nazi crimes, like those in the Auschwitz concentration camp, because Japanese special units committed similar atrocities during the war, including medical experiments on human beings,” he added.
As a former ambassador to Tokyo, Panov is well aware of how the Japanese government has misled the Japanese people over the past.
“Official propaganda has been trying to persuade people to believe that their country was a victim rather than an aggressor,” said the expert.
As one of the countries that played a significant role in World War II, Russia has invited leaders of the countries that fought against Nazi Germany and its allies in the Great Patriotic War to the annual V-Day parade in Moscow on May 9.
Meanwhile, this year China will hold a military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
As two main battlefields in Asia and Europe during World War II, China and Russia have repeatedly called on the international community not to forget the wartime history.
On Dec. 13, 2014, when China held a state commemoration for its first National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre victims, Chinese President Xi Jinping noted that denial of the Nanjing Massacre will not be allowed by the Chinese people or peace-loving people anywhere in the world.
On Jan. 27, 2015, which marked the 70th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that attempts to distort and rewrite history were unacceptable and immoral.
“Moscow and Beijing estimate historical events from the similar point of view and they also have a common opinion over Tokyo’s actions and claims,” said Panov.
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