Attention must be paid

[unhappycamper]

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2995937

Attention must be paid
Oct 11,2014

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces will no longer be restricted to “situations in the areas surrounding Japan” under a new framework of the U.S.-Japan alliance. Now, it can not only expand on the global stage but also in cyberspace.

On Wednesday, Washington and Tokyo discussed Japan’s new military position in a five-page interim report to revise guidelines on their bilateral security. The revision is designated to “ensure the seamless peace and security of Japan.” Once it is finalized by the end of the year, it will give Japan a stronger position against China - which has beefed up its military presence and its capabilities - and have ramifications across the region where South Korea and other countries still bear bitter memories of Japan’s past military aggressions.

The bilateral security guidelines, which were first written in 1978 to allow Japan help the United States against a possible attack from the Soviet Union, were revised in 1997. The two countries agreed last year to work toward new guidelines to equip the U.S.-Japan security alliance with responses to the modern threat environment - mostly from China.

In September, Japan reinterpreted its pacifist postwar Constitution to allow the use of force in defense of its own people and close allies. The new U.S.-Japan security stance was supposed to reflect Japan’s wish to restore its “sovereign” defense right, which happened to fall in line with Washington’s aim of containing the rising power and influence of China.

[Feral Child]

1. This is an important development.

REC