' Security bill would target China' - Chinese FM asks Japan to explain Abe's statement

[Keel]

FM asks Japan to explain Abe statement
By Yuen Yeuk-laam
Source:Global Times
Published: 2015-6-30 0:18:05


Japanese website quoted him as saying security bill would target China

China on Monday urged Japan to explain a recent statement in Japanese media quoting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as allegedly saying Japan's security bill would target China. Hua Chunying, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Chinese government is aware of the media reports of Abe's alleged statement and if the reports are accurate, Japan should clarify and explain the matter.

According to gendai.ismedia.jp, a Japanese online media site, Abe met with the heads of local media outlets at a restaurant in June and after drinking red wine, he started commenting on Japan's Democratic Party, the new security bills and international relations.

In one of his claims, Abe allegedly said the new security bill would target China over the South China Sea issue. He also said Japan exercises collective self-defense so it could "bash" China together with the US.

An employee at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Global Times Monday that they have not read the reports but added that he personally does not believe Abe made such a claim.

The statement came after Japan revised its security bills which allow its military to fight abroad for the first time since the World War II and its increasingly active involvement in maritime issues with China, which Hua referred to at the conference as "a series of negative behaviors."

"It is increasingly clear that Japan is getting involved in the South China Sea issues. This is to distract China from the East China Sea, where Japan is attempting to provoke trouble on the Diaoyu Islands. Abe's comments are aimed at attracting more military support," Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Abe's statement may have reflected his true feelings as the comments - though made after a drink - were largely consistent with the government policy, said Zhou Yongsheng, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University.

"It may have exposed the core target of the Japanese government. It is an unhealthy, obsolete and antagonistic mentality for Abe to attempt to spread hatred and Cold War mentality to the public," Zhou told the Global Times.

Despite Abe's aggressive attitude toward its revised security bills, Geng Xin, a research fellow from the Chongyang Institute of Financial Studies of the Renmin University of China, said it is not likely that war between China and Japan would happen as Japan is not capable of going to war with China with its current economic situation and military equipment.

 

[Keel]

Same report in BBC Chinese version

日媒披露安倍私下称安保法是针对中国
童倩BBC中文网日本特约记者

• 2015年 6月 29日

分享

日本《周刊现代》杂志官网截图
尽管中国外交部发言人华春萤已要求日本澄清和说明日本杂志《周刊现代》报道首相安倍晋三最近私下说“安保法案是针对南海的中国”，但日本政府和主流传媒到周一（6月29日）傍晚为止，不仅没关注华春萤的发言，而且对《周刊现代》报道本身也未显示关注。内阁官房长官菅义伟周一在记者会上还重申安倍内阁计划在本届国会上成立安保法。

最新一期《周刊现代》刊登一篇透露最近安倍在各种场合私下说话的综合文章，其中说6月1日晚安倍与各大日本传媒驻官邸记者在东京赤坂的“赤坂饭店”喝酒时，说起日本国会正在审议的安全保障法案，安倍说：“安保法制是针对南海的中国，所以说了要做（立法）就要做”。

日本传统上政客与主要传媒政治部记者之间存在这种非公开的“吹风会”，据《周刊现代》称，当时在场的首相首席秘书金井尚哉在安倍耳边催促说：“总理，该走了”。

漏嘴前科
《周刊现代》是日本众多周刊杂志之一，隶属日本较大型的出版社-讲谈社，是1959年创刊的一份综合性刊物，发行量高峰期约150万册，近年伴随日本报刊不景气趋势，发行量不断减少，到2008年为止约25万。

当天与安倍喝酒的日本各大传媒都严守了非公开规则，没透露安倍是否说过上述的话。不过这件事不仅令人想起2014年1月安倍在瑞士出席达沃斯论坛期间，与欧美记者的一次座谈会中，解说当时政治关系恶劣的日中关系，以第一次世界大战前英国与德国的关系作比喻后，引起欧美记者哗然“日本与中国是否处于开战前夜”，BBC记者当时也报道了。

日本主流传媒当时形容安倍的话给欧美传媒带来冲击，日本政府也赶快澄清“不能以第一次世界大战来比较”。

无伤大局
而这一次不仅日本政府和主流传媒无视华春萤的发言，而且周一中国政协主席俞正声在北京人民大会堂与访华的日本前自治大臣野田毅和前环境大臣石原伸晃等执政自民党“鸽派”组成的“亚非问题研究会”成员会谈时，俞正声还强调目前中日改善的环境，他说：“去年5月我们见面时，中日关系还有很多障碍，这次能在这样的环境中对话真的令人高兴”。野田一行周一还与中共对外联络部副部长刘洪才会谈。

中日两国政府的交流也持续着推进，周一在东京两国卫生部门官员举行的交流会上，双方确认了为中国实现《母婴健康手册》制度两国合作的协议。该协议是依据日本《母子健康手册》为蓝本，协助中国构筑类似保护母婴健康的法律和制度等。

（责编：董乐）

 

[northeast]

Well，everybody knows that，hardly anything new.

 

[Keel]

Well，everybody knows that，hardly anything new.

"Beyond a reasonable doubt" - get it? and from a "Head of State"
Let's see how the Japanese responds

Ancient Chinese Art of Paper Folding

 

[TaiShang]

Abe's 'Beijing containment' comments draw fire
June 30, 2015

A protester holding a placard participates in a rally against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration in Tokyo, Japan, June 27, 2015. Hundreds of people joined the demonstration on Saturday against Abe's policies in Tokyo's Shibuya area. [Photo/Agencies]

PM reportedly told journalists that security legislation is directed at containing Beijing

Beijing demanded on Monday that Tokyo explain reports that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan's security legislation is directed at China.

Japan's Gendai Business weekly reported on Monday that Abe said at a meal with high-ranking media figures earlier this month that Japan's "security policy bills are targeted at China in the South China Sea".

Abe was quoted as saying that Japan should exercise the right of collective self-defense and side with the United States against China in the South China Sea.

Gendai Business reported that the prime minister's office had warned media attending the meal not to report the remarks, so certain journalists at the meal who are worried about the legislation sent the information to the magazine and other media.

The reports drew a swift rebuke from Beijing. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: "We have noticed the report. If it is confirmed true, we believe Japan should issue an explanation and clarification."

Hua said people should remain on "high alert" about the aims behind Japan's recent moves, including changing its security policies, revising its Constitution and expanding its armed forces, as well as creating tensions in the South China Sea, in which Japan has no territorial claims.

"We urge Japan to learn from the lessons of history, follow the path of peaceful development and act prudently on military and security affairs to avoid making the same mistakes," Hua said.

A survey released by Japan's Nikkei business daily on Monday found the proportion of voters opposed to Abe's administration rose to 40 percent over doubts about the security policy. It is the highest ratio since Abe retook office in 2012.

Abe has vowed to enact legislation to implement a historic defense policy shift this summer. But 56 percent of voters oppose his plan to end a self-imposed ban on exercising the right of collective self-defense, or militarily aiding a friendly country under attack. That could allow Japanese troops to fight abroad for the first time since Tokyo's defeat in World War II.

Eighty-one percent of those polled said the government's explanation for the change has been insufficient.

Japan has vowed to join countries that have territorial disputes with China to contain Beijing.

Last week, Japan held a joint drill with the Philippines in the South China Sea and had its military patrol planes fly over areas claimed by China.

"Whether or not the report about Abe's remarks is true, it is apparent that Japan has moved on to join the US to contain China in the South China Sea," said Wang Ping, a researcher on Japanese studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

As for Japan's domestic objection to security legislation, Wang said the bills violate Japan's postwar pacifist Constitution.

"So that has drawn opposition from ordinary people, law scholars, opposition parties and all the forces cherishing peace," she said.

 

[northeast]

"Beyond a reasonable doubt" - get it? and from a "Head of State"
Let's see how the Japanese responds

Ancient Chinese Art of Paper Folding

What responds do you want to hear？Does it matter？

 

[Keel]

What responds do you want to hear？Does it matter？

Of course it matters on a diplomatic level
It is an embarrassment on Abe as a PM
He can admit the statement as true and show his balls but most likely he will deny his true intention because he has no guts to say it publicly
Do you even know the difference?

 

[northeast]

Of course it matters on a diplomatic level
It is an embarrassment on Abe as a PM
He can admit the statement as true and show his balls but most likely he will deny his true intention because he has no guts to say it publicly
Do you even know the difference?

Nah，Leaders do slip their true thought sometimes，no big deals.Why would it matters any way?Abe won't give a damn about what we have said or Chinese diplomats say.

 

[Keel]

The above incidence is just another gaffe on Abe's hard-lining administration

Japan's PM Shinzo Abe heckled at Okinawa battle anniversary event

Abe heckled over continuing presence of US forces amid criticism of his attempts to allow Japanese troops to fight overseas for first time since war



The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, lays a bouquet of flowers during a memorial service to mark the 70th anniversary of the battle of Okinawa. Photograph: Hiroko Harima/AP
Justin McCurry in Fukuoka and agencies

Tuesday 23 June 2015 11.57 BSTLast modified on Friday 26 June 201510.33 BST

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has been heckled at an event marking the anniversary of the end of the bloodiest battle of the Pacific during the second world war, as criticism mounts over his attempts to allow Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time in seven decades.

Shouts of “Go home!” and “Warmonger!” could be heard as Abe, a nationalist whose attempts to reinterpret Japan’s pacifist constitution have sent his approval ratings to record lows, arrived at a ceremony on Tuesday to mark the end of the battle of Okinawa in which more than 200,000 civilians and soldiers died.

On a day when 5,000 people, including the US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, gathered in the town of Itoman on Okinawa’s southern tip to remember those who died in the 82-day battle, a poll revealed strong public opposition to Abe’s plans to strengthen the role of the country’s military.

Criticism of Abe in Okinawa is running high over his support for the construction of a new US marine corps airbase on a pristine stretch of Okinawa’s coastline to replace an existing base located in the middle of a densely populated city.

Okinawa’s governor, Takeshi Onaga, has vowed to block the plan, which would also involve the relocation of about 8,000 US troops and their families from the island to Guam and other US Pacific territories.


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The US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, at the memorial service. Photograph: Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images
Abe, who appeared shaken by the rare display of public anger, acknowledged Okinawa’s role in maintaining Japan’s security since the end of the second world war.

The island, located about 1,000 miles south of Tokyo, hosts more than half the 47,000 US troops in Japan and three-quarters of US bases, despite accounting for just 0.6% of Japan’s territory.

“People in Okinawa have long been asked to carry a big burden for our security,” Abe said. “We will continue to do our best to reduce it.”

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He added: “We must take pride in the path of peace we have single-mindedly walked in the last 70 years and make ceaseless efforts to establish world peace.”

Abe was speaking near the spot where Japanese troops who had been ordered never to surrender forced terrified local people to throw themselves off cliffs rather than risk being captured by the Americans who, they were told, would rape and kill them.

Survivors said that Japanese troops gave civilians two grenades each: the first was to be hurled at the invading enemy, and the second to be detonated in group suicides.

The island is still littered with human remains and unexploded ordnance, said Naeko Teruya, a representative of the bereaved families. “Seventy years since the war has ended, we still feel that the war hasn’t truly ended,” she said. “We continue to find the scars of war in Okinawa today.”

By the time the fighting ended, about 100,000 Okinawan civilians were dead, as well as 80,000 Japanese troops. At least 12,000 US soldiers also died in a battle that many believed offered a bloody foretaste of what could happen if the US attempted an invasion of the Japanese mainland.


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A US marine charges through Japanese machine gun fire in so-called Death Valley, Okinawa, in April 1945. Photograph: AP
Japan surrendered almost two months later, days after the US dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Onaga received a warmer welcome when he referred to the unfair military burden he and many islanders believe they have shouldered since Okinawa was handed back to Japanese control in 1972.

He urged Abe to reconsider a 20-year-old agreement between Tokyo and Washington to build a new offshore runway on the island, saying his election as governor last year demonstrated the strength of public feeling against the move.

“We strongly demand that the government cancel construction … and review its policies of reducing Okinawa’s base burden once again,” he said.

Okinawa’s strategically important role as a host to US military bases has taken on renewed importance amid anxiety over increasingly assertive Chinese claims to islands in the South and East China Seas.

Some local people fear their island could once again be dragged into war if Abe pushes ahead with plans to reinterpret the US-authored pacifist constitution and allow Japanese troops to engage in collective self-defence – or coming to the aid of an ally under attack.


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US MV-22 Osprey aircraft sitting on the tarmac in Ginowan, Okinawa. Photograph: HITOSHI MAESHIRO/EPA
Article 9 of the constitution prohibits Japan from threatening or using force as a means of settling international disputes. Successive administrations in Tokyo have interpreted that to mean that troops can only go into battle in defence of direct threats to Japanese territory.

Abe’s quest to end that strictly defensive posture recently suffered a setback after three respected scholars said the changes were unconstitutional.

Voters also appear to doubt Abe’s reassurances that the change would not increase the likelihood of Japanese troops becoming embroiled in US-led conflicts.

A poll by the liberal Asahi Shimbun released on Tuesday showed support for the Abe cabinet at 39%, the lowest since he took office in late 2012. The newspaper attributed the slump to growing public opposition to Abe’s security bills. According to the poll, 53% of respondents oppose the new legislation, while 29% support it.

The end of the Okinawan battle was marked as South Korean women who were forced to work as sex slaves for the Japanese army before and during the war said they would file a $20m (£12.7m) lawsuit next month at a US court to seek financial compensation from Tokyo.

Ten surviving “comfort women”, led by 89-year-old Kim Bok-dong, will lodge the suit at a California district court on 1 July, according to their attorney.

“The Japanese government should offer an official and sincere apology for wrongdoings by their ancestors and restore our honour,” Kim told reporters outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from Korea, were forced into sexual slavery during the war. Japan insists all compensation claims were settled when the two countries normalised bilateral ties in 1965.

Nah，Leaders do slip their true thought sometimes，no big deals.Why would it matters any way?Abe won't give a damn about what we have said or Chinese diplomats say.

it is the mentality like you softie people which are sickening
We step back a milimeter the enemy will advance a kilometer
Just blow the fcuking event up in great proportions. What have we lost in exerting the pressure on the Japanese PM who is allegedly at fault?

 

[Beidou2020]

Hopefully this leads to a big increase in military spending and more weapons being developed. CPC always needs a wake up call to get them into action.

 

[northeast]

Hopefully this leads to a big increase in military spending and more weapons being developed. CPC always needs a wake up call to get them into action.

I don't think so.Everyone knows that，If CCP have helden some delusion about Japan before and change thier policy after what Abe have said，Then I'd say CCP is a useless，hopelessly stupid party.

 

[Aepsilons]

Nah，Leaders do slip their true thought sometimes，no big deals.Why would it matters any way?Abe won't give a damn about what we have said or Chinese diplomats say.

Well said !

 

[Tom99]

Nah，Leaders do slip their true thought sometimes，no big deals.Why would it matters any way?Abe won't give a damn about what we have said or Chinese diplomats say.

Of course it matters. The Japanese would definitely requests diplomatic clearity if Xi Jinping said China is laying out new military initiative includes nuclear weapons aiming at Japanese cities, new military ships and planes to surround and contain Japan.

And it matters now, as Japan's true intentions have been revealed (even though China probably knows it all along) , China must be proactive to blunt this Japanese aggression before it becomes negative impacts China's interests and sovereignty.

 

[northeast]

Of course it matters. The Japanese would definitely requests diplomatic clearity if Xi Jinping said China is laying out new military initiative includes nuclear weapons aiming at Japanese cities, new military ships and planes to surround and contain Japan.

And it matters now, as Japan's true intentions have been revealed (even though China probably knows it all along) , China must be proactive to blunt this Japanese aggression before it becomes negative impacts China's interests and sovereignty.

Yeah,Japan will do the same,but it doesn't means it matters.At the end of the day,what he have said doesn't change the fact that they do it all along.Say it or not doesn't change anything.

 

[Aepsilons]

Of course it matters. The Japanese would definitely requests diplomatic clearity if Xi Jinping said China is laying out new military initiative includes nuclear weapons aiming at Japanese cities, new military ships and planes to surround and contain Japan.

And it matters now, as Japan's true intentions have been revealed (even though China probably knows it all along) , China must be proactive to blunt this Japanese aggression before it becomes negative impacts China's interests and sovereignty.

Yeah,Japan will do the same,but it doesn't means it matters.At the end of the day,what he have said doesn't change the fact that they do it all along.Say it or not doesn't change anything.

Yup.