Interview: Abe's security bills tantamount to diplomatic suicide for Japan: Cambodian scholars

Cambodian scholars have said the enactment of the controversial security bills proposed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is tantamount to diplomatic suicide for Japan.

The remarks came after Japan's upper house of parliament, in which the majority was controlled by Abe's ruling bloc, passed the bills early Saturday, despite strong disagreement from opposition parties.

Under the new bills, Japan's army, known as the Self-Defense Forces, will be able to go into armed conflicts overseas to defend allies even if Japan itself is not attacked. The legislation will allow Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time in 70 years.

Joseph Matthews, director of the International Cooperation Department at Asia Euro University in Phnom Penh, said the legislation is in open violation of Article 9 of Japan's post-World War II (WWII) Constitution, which barred Japan from becoming a normal country and pursuing the rearmament of its forces.

He said the laws would trigger insecurity, fear and distrust among all Asian countries, especially in Southeast and Northeast Asia.

"Definitely, the enactment of this legislation is tantamount to a diplomatic suicide for Japanese foreign affairs and a setback to all the efforts Japan is making to bring permanent and durable peace to the region and to the world," Matthews told Xinhua. "Undoubtedly, Japan's role as a peace maker in the world will be questioned."

Matthews said the bills would unleash psychological warfare among the countries who were once victims of Japanese aggression.

"People who have suffered at the hands of Japanese troops are still alive and their memory is very much fresh. Going down the same path will never help Japan heal the wounds of World War II, which are as fresh as 70 years ago," he said.

He said as all nations in the region are striving for economic development and integration, the Abe government should not do anything that can reopen the wounds of the past, which are still a stigma attached to the Japanese nation.

Matthews said the legislation will also lead to an arms race among Japan's immediate neighbors, such as the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Chheang Vannarith, chairman of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, said the bills will further complicate the already complex regional security climate.

"The bills may lead to deepening strategic mistrust between Japan and China and other Asian neighbors, which still remember the past atrocities committed by Japan during World War II," he said. "With the bills, the prospect of improving Japan's relations with China is slim."

Vannarith said the main objective of the legislation is to create a collective deterrence against China, which, however, he regarded as rather counterproductive.

"It will force China to be more assertive and defensive. In turn, it will lead to an arms race in the region," he said. "Miscalculation, incidents and miscommunication may lead to war." Endi