Philippines Welcomes Japan’s New Security Legislation
On Saturday morning, the Japan’s House of Councillors, the upper house in the country’s bicameral legislature, passed a package of controversial laws that will, for the first time ever, allow Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to head overseas to defend allies, a departure from Tokyo’s post-war pacifist posture. The laws mark a significant development toward Japan becoming a “proactive” contributor to Asian peace, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe frames the move.
While the new laws are seen with trepidation in neighboring South Korea and China, two states with a keen memory of Imperial Japan’s atrocities during the Second World War, other Asian states welcome the move. In particular, the Philippines welcomed the passage of the bill in Japan’s upper house. Details
