ID :
160082
Thu, 02/10/2011 - 17:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/160082
The shortlink copeid
U.S. says Japanese Constitution limits close defense ties
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 Kyodo - Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and Tokyo's interpretation of it restrict close defense cooperation between Japan and the United States, a recent U.S. congressional report says.
Against the backdrop of the North Korean missile threat, the report titled ''The U.S.-Japan Alliance,'' which was compiled Jan. 18 by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, says Japan's Self-Defense Forces could not respond to a missile attack if the U.S. side were targeted, although the two countries have been integrating their missile defense operations.
In a section subtitled ''Constitutional and Legal Constraints,'' the report cites Article 9 as ''the most prominent and fundamental'' of legal factors that ''could restrict Japan's ability to cooperate more robustly with the Untied States.''
It also says Japan's 1960 interpretation that the Constitution forbids collective self-defense ''is also considered an obstacle to close defense cooperation.''
''As the United States and Japan increasingly integrate missile defense operation, the ban on collective self-defense...raises questions about how Japanese commanders will gauge whether American forces or Japan itself is being targeted,'' it says, adding, ''Under the current interpretation, Japanese forces could not respond if the United States were attacked.''
During a visit to China in January, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said North Korea could pose a ''direct threat'' to the United States in five years or less as it ''will have developed an intercontinental ballistic missile within that time frame.''
The report says former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had spoken about the need to reconsider legal restrictions but efforts to alter the interpretation stalled after his resignation in 2007.
Referring to Japan's divided parliament since the Democratic Party of Japan, which took power in 2009, lost control of the upper chamber last July, the report says, ''Tokyo has struggled to advance national security issues that would help to improve the alliance relationship.''
''Ambitious plans like amending Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, passing a law that would allow for a more streamlined dispatch of Japanese troops, or altering the current interpretation of collective self-defense are far more difficult to accomplish given the political gridlock,'' it says.
Against the backdrop of the North Korean missile threat, the report titled ''The U.S.-Japan Alliance,'' which was compiled Jan. 18 by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, says Japan's Self-Defense Forces could not respond to a missile attack if the U.S. side were targeted, although the two countries have been integrating their missile defense operations.
In a section subtitled ''Constitutional and Legal Constraints,'' the report cites Article 9 as ''the most prominent and fundamental'' of legal factors that ''could restrict Japan's ability to cooperate more robustly with the Untied States.''
It also says Japan's 1960 interpretation that the Constitution forbids collective self-defense ''is also considered an obstacle to close defense cooperation.''
''As the United States and Japan increasingly integrate missile defense operation, the ban on collective self-defense...raises questions about how Japanese commanders will gauge whether American forces or Japan itself is being targeted,'' it says, adding, ''Under the current interpretation, Japanese forces could not respond if the United States were attacked.''
During a visit to China in January, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said North Korea could pose a ''direct threat'' to the United States in five years or less as it ''will have developed an intercontinental ballistic missile within that time frame.''
The report says former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had spoken about the need to reconsider legal restrictions but efforts to alter the interpretation stalled after his resignation in 2007.
Referring to Japan's divided parliament since the Democratic Party of Japan, which took power in 2009, lost control of the upper chamber last July, the report says, ''Tokyo has struggled to advance national security issues that would help to improve the alliance relationship.''
''Ambitious plans like amending Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, passing a law that would allow for a more streamlined dispatch of Japanese troops, or altering the current interpretation of collective self-defense are far more difficult to accomplish given the political gridlock,'' it says.
