Spotlight: Japan's new defense policy sparks widespread uncertainty on regional security

Japan's new security legislation has gone against calls to repair mutual trust with its neighbors and prompted increased vigilance in the Asia-Pacific region, experts said ahead of a widely watched trilateral summit between Japan, China and South Korea in Seoul.

Japan has abandoned the 70-year-long pacifism it had maintained since the end of World War II as the parliament last month enacted a controversial legislation pushed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government to remilitarize the pacifist nation.

The legislation's enactment marked an overhaul in Japan's purely defensive security posture, meaning the country could dispatch troops overseas to engage in armed conflicts for the first time in seven decades.

Though Abe has made assurances that Japan's security shift will proactively contribute to global peace, the bill added great uncertainty to regional security and thus immediately drew harsh criticism from China and South Korea, victims of Japan's past military expansionism which have been increasingly embittered by Japan's denial of its past atrocities and saber-rattling stance on territorial disputes.

RAPID CHANGE IN JAPAN'S SECURITY POSTURE

Abe's administration has achieved its aim of rapidly recasting the nation's military in an astonishingly short period of three years. The government reviewed its national defense program guidelines and mid-term defense program in late 2013, emphasizing that Japan should maintain air and maritime supremacy and further involve its forces in policing the Asia-Pacific region.

Based on the two documents, Japan loosened its restrictions on armaments exports for the first time in half a century and introduced new principles on defense equipment transfer in April 2014, allowing Japanese firms to export weapons if their deals pass government screening and to engage in joint defense equipment development.

Japan is planning to jointly develop submarine technologies with Australia and is considering transferring patrol aircraft and surveillance vessels to India and the Philippines. However, pundits have expressed concern that the defense equipment transfer could trigger a regional arms race, especially after Japan itself commissioned the "Izumo" helicopter carrier.

The new security laws mean that Japan has been able to unilaterally adopt a combat mode as its Self-Defense Forces could be dispatched abroad for the first time since the end of WWII to engage in armed conflicts or help defend its key allies.

"It is highly probable that Japan may intervene in every possible degree in regional conflicts, such as on the Korean Peninsula or in the South China Sea after the endorsement of the security bills," said Liu Jiangyong, professor of international relations at Tsinghua University.

The legislation triggered large-scale protests at home as either the bills themselves or the way they were handled exposed Abe's contempt for both the public and parliament and are widely considered by academics here as a destruction of Japan's democratic system.

"The security shift that has been almost single-handedly orchestrated by Prime Minister Abe has caused outrage from citizens across Japan who feel that the government has acted in an oppressive way reminiscent of Japan's pre-war military leadership," Teruhisa Muramatsu, professor emeritus at Tsukuba University, told Xinhua.

Koichi Nakano, a political professor at Tokyo's Sophia University, meanwhile, doubted that Japan could uphold Abe's pet phrase of "the rule of law" through the new legislation.

If the "prime minister cannot observe the rule of law domestically, how can he be credible in imposing the rule of law internationally?" he said.

INTENSIFIED JAPAN-U.S. ALLIANCE

Behind the Japanese security strategy overhaul is obviously the prime minister's eagerness to intensify the Japan-U.S. alliance, which he has called the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy.

This was manifested during Abe's high-profile landing on the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan earlier this month, the first incumbent Japanese leader to board a U.S. carrier.

The prime minister promised the United States to pass the new security legislation allowing Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense within this year even before sufficient domestic deliberations.

Certainly, the United States would also be happy to accept Abe's hospitality when the world's top military power needs a loyal helper in the Asia-Pacific region to play its "pivot to Asia" game.

"The advantage now for the U.S. is that, in essence at least, it has a second de facto military in the form of Japan -- a country with a healthy military budget and cutting-edge means to both produce and export military hardware," Kaoru Imori, a senior research fellow at the Department of Political Science of Meiji Gakuin University, told Xinhua.

"For the U.S., it's a simple equation really: allow Japan more military freedom, in exchange for unwavering military support for the U.S. as it realigns to the region," the Asian affairs expert said.

Analysts here have suggested that the alliance between Japan and the United States, its foe-turned-friend, could form another iron curtain in the region, which could cause tensions through military maneuvers Japan's neighbors might regard as bellicose.

"In terms of the Asia-Pacific region, we're already seeing Japan and the U.S. bolster their maritime forces, with the latter deploying another Aegis-equipped destroyer to Yokosuka this month, with the number of Aegis destroyers at Yokosuka to total 12 by 2017," Muramatsu said.

UNCERTAINTIES AT HOME, ABROAD

Retired Japanese political heavyweight Yohei Kono expressed his worries recently about Japan's security stance shift, saying that there would be a great gap between the will of the politicians and that of the people.

The former speaker of Japan' s house of representatives also expressed the concern that the pacifist direction Japan has maintained for years and the country's relations with its neighbors would change for the worse.

Muramatsu and Imori concurred that Japan's new expanded role is already creating a lot of unease at home and abroad. Most Japanese people do not want to see Japan drawn into a U.S.-led conflict, they said.

"More checks and balances and more transparency about Abe's intentions are necessary," Imori said, highlighting the significance of the upcoming trilateral summit after a three-year hiatus due to Japan's provocations in territorial and historical disputes.

Due to strained ties, it's a rare occasion that the three leaders of the most powerful countries in the region can meet face-to-face, Imori said.

"But it is the perfect opportunity for Japan to be crystal clear about its new security shift and for the sake of peace and stability in the region ensure it gains the understanding and acceptance of its activities from both China and South Korea to reduce growing anxiety and tensions in the region," Imori said.

In the upcoming trilateral meeting, Japan needs to clearly explain its intentions regarding the new security legislation and how the laws will be implemented, Muramatsu said.

The last thing this region needs is an unnecessarily paranoid arms race, Imori said, adding that dialogue and diplomacy offer a sound and far more comprehensive method to deal with any disputes in the region. Enditem

Xinhua reporters Li Rong and Wang Bowen in Beijing contributed to the sto