Japan PM Abe Renews Resolve to Revise Constitution's Article 9

Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe expressed afresh his determination Sunday to revise Article 9 of the Constitution to justify the existence of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. In a speech before some 4,000 SDF members during his review of the troops in a training field in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, Abe stressed that politicians are responsible for creating an environment in which all SDF personnel can be highly proud of carrying out their duties. Offering the view that "90 pct of Japanese people respectfully accept the SDF," Abe said, "I will fulfill my responsibility." As for the country's new defense policy, to be compiled by the end of the year, the prime minister said the SDF cannot protect the country from now on unless they establish competitive edges in such new fields as space, cyberspace and electromagnetic wave. The event was also joined by some 260 SDF vehicles and 40 aircraft. The Air SDF's state-of-the-art F-35A stealth jet made its review debut. END