Just a normal country
After 15 years of economic stagnation and political drift, Japan is starting to look perkier. Economic growth has risen 3 per cent this year, while the major stock market index is up more than 30 per cent.
In September, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi shattered the political forces opposed to deeper economic reform by winning a landslide victory in a snap general election. Now he and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) have set their sights on reforming Japan’s Americandictated post- war constitution in their broader goal of turning Japan into a “ normal country.” They want to amend the constitution’s famous Article 9, which renounces war and forbids the possession of a formal army.
In a draft released last month, the LDP kept the renunciation of war but proposed official recognition of the armed forces, whose activities would include national defence and participation in “ efforts to maintain international peace and security under international co- operation.” The changes could be regarded as no more than a bit of constitutional housekeeping. After all, Japan already has an army, the so-called “ Self- Defence Forces,” and a military budget comparable to that of Britain. As one retired senior commander put it, “ It should be remembered that, after the U. S., Japan is the largest contributor to the U. N. and to its peacekeeping budget. Yet the constitution severely constrains its ability to send combat units for the U. N. Security Council’s peacekeeping operations.”
Still, some of Japan’s neighbours, and many Japanese liberals, are unhappy about the proposed changes. Concern centres on the ambiguous wording — “ efforts to maintain international peace and security under international co- operation” — which does not specify U. N. peacekeeping operations. The clause could be invoked, for example, for Japan to participate in U.S.-led regional security operations, such the defence of Taiwan or apre- emptive strike on North Korea. And Washington, in fact, is a strong supporter of the amendment. As for Japanese liberals, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said it best when it suggested the pacifist clause does not simply ban Japan from participating in war, it obliges the country to persuade others to do the same. “ Article 9 does not mean that Japan wants to avoid war and other countries can do whatever they want,” the paper said. The constitutional amendments — the defence clause is just one — require a two- thirds majority in both houses of parliament followed by passage in a national referendum. The process, and the accompanying debate, will take at least a year.
If passed, Japan will become a more normal nation. It will cease to be a special one.