China, S. Korea voice concerns over Japan military policy

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Source: China Daily/Asia News Network

The presidents of China and the Republic of Korea shared their nations' concerns over Japan's new military policy on Friday, days after Tokyo announced a landmark shift in its military stance.

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Xi, making a two-day visit to Seoul, met his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye at a special luncheon meeting, their second meeting in two days.

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Xi said in an address at Seoul National University earlier in the day, “When the war against Japan was at its most intense, the Chinese and Korean people shared their suffering and helped each other with sweat and blood.

“Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future,” he said while meeting ROK National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa. “In line with that spirit, the two countries can jointly hold memorial activities next year.”

Next year marks the 70th anniversary of victory in China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and of the liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japan's colonial rule.

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Read more: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/korea/2014/07/06/411726/China-S.htm

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1. That's a two-page article, it includes a response by Japan.

I recommend everyone read both pages.

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2. Cabinet slugged by angry voters

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/03/national/politics-diplomacy/cabinet-approval-rating-falls-controversial-shift-defense-policy/

Disapproval rating jumps after Article 9 move
Cabinet slugged by angry voters

Kyodo
Jul 3, 2014

The Cabinet’s approval rating slipped 4.3 points after its decision Tuesday to adopt a new defense posture for the nation by reinterpreting the Constitution.

In the telephone poll by Kyodo News on Tuesday and Wednesday, the approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet stood at 47.8 percent, down from 52.1 percent in the survey taken from June 21 to 22. It was the first time the rating had slipped below 50 percent since December.

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About 61.2 percent of respondents said Japan is now more likely to get sucked into a war, disagreeing with Abe’s argument that collective self-defense will serve as a further deterrent to conflict. Only 34 percent agreed it would be a deterrent.

A total of 73.2 percent said they oppose sending the Self-Defense Forces to participate in collective security efforts involving the use of force.

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3. Japan's Cabinet Eases Post-WWII Limits on Military

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/japan-approves-larger-military-role-24374924

Japan's Cabinet Eases Post-WWII Limits on Military

TOKYO — Jul 1, 2014, 2:45 AM ET
By MARI YAMAGUCHI and KEN MORITSUGU
Associated Press

Since Japan's defeat in World War II, its military has been shackled by restrictions imposed by a victorious U.S. and that, over time, a majority of Japanese adopted as their own. Now, the shackles are being loosened.

Japan's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a reinterpretation of the country's pacifist postwar constitution that will allow the military to help defend allies and others "in a close relationship" with Japan under what is known as "collective self-defense."

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The issue has divided Japan, where many worry about China's growing military assertiveness but also support the anti-war clause of the constitution and fret about a possible slide toward the militarism that led to World War II.

About 2,000 people protested outside Abe's office, saying that any change to the constitution should be made through a public referendum, not simply a Cabinet reinterpretation.

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4. Was that even reported in LBN here on DU?

I can't find it.