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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/DG17Dh01.html Asia Times July 17, 2002 � 'Security' bills give Japanese the jitters By Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO - Japan's ruling coalition is determined to ram through parliament a set of bills aimed at beefing up the country's military powers, but opposition parties and activist groups are as set to thwart such a move. Four opposition parties are already boycotting deliberations on the bills, which would give the country's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) sweeping powers to deal with emergency situations during a foreign military attack. But the government, which is pushing the bills in the post-September 11 environment, remains confident that it will get what it wants before the session of the Diet, or parliament, ends on August 20. Activists say the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is bound for major disappointment. So do such observers as media commentator Koichi Ishiyama, who predicts that the bills will probably be shelved considering the widening public unease over them. "The government wants to push the security bills through," says Ishiyama. "But public opposition is too strong this time." Hiroko Mizuhara, spokeswoman for the Japanese Consumers Union, which is leading a movement against the bills, also says that "nothing will stop us from forcing the government to give up passing" these in order to ensure that there would be a peaceful Japan for the next generation. The proposed laws in question consist of the main emergency bill, and the so-called support bills on information disclosure and freedom of information. In February, Koizumi had urged the Diet to adopt such bills not only in the wake of the September 11 attacks, but security concerns such as the Japanese Coast Guard sinking of a suspected North Korean spy ship in the East China Sea last December. By April, the government had submitted an outline of a set of three bills designed to allow the SDF to cope with an external military attack. As Koizumi has described them, the proposed laws would be the first time postwar Japan has attempted to lay the framework for how the nation should defend itself during a security crisis. At the time, at least one survey showed that while 24 percent of the Japanese indicated definite support for the bills, some 47 percent said they had reservations and wanted a more detailed study of the proposed laws. Thirteen percent wanted them rejected. Since then, critics have said that the proposed laws only encourage Japan to get entangled with US military operations in Asia, a clear shift from concerns of mere defense of the country as enshrined in the country's Peace Constitution, which was written by Americans after World War II. Debate has also zeroed in on a clause in the emergency bill that authorizes the premier in an emergency situation to override any local government's or public organization's opposition to mobilize the SDF to ensure public safety. It also calls for fines or jail time for those refusing to support the SDF. Tamotsu Suzuki, the 77-year-old head of a group of people that is suing the US Atsugi Air Base for noise pollution, says the emergency bill reminds him of the past fascist Japan whose military government forced citizens to support the Tokyo war machine. He adds that any attack by a foreign power on Japan can be dealt with by the SDF as it is now. Keizo Nabeshima, who writes on defense for Kyodo News Agency, points out that Japan already has the third-highest defense budget in the world after the United States and Russia - an annual US$43 billion. The public uproar has been no less intense over the accompanying bills that also demand full cooperation from citizens to ensure the smooth working of the SDF in a "security crisis". The bills mean that once the government declares an emergency, citizens can be ordered to evacuate their homes without being provided information as to why this is being done. Privately owned land can be confiscated for SDF activities in the name of protecting citizens. The government can also order a media clampdown and withhold information from journalists, something that one legal expert says gags the press and facilitates arrests and searches without prior warrants from judges. The Mainichi newspaper has said that the two information bills "weaken the media's watchdog authority". But the bills are arousing more deep-seated fears. Says the Japanese Consumer Union's Mizuhara: "I was 10 and remember the hardship [during military rule during the World War II] vividly. No Japanese wants their country to descend into that tumultuous period ever again." Despite the Peace Constitution, changes have come to the SDF in the past few years. For instance, it has been allowed to participate in peacekeeping activities overseas. In 2000, Japan and the United States inked a new security pact that expanded SDF support for the US military. In October, Japan enacted an anti-terrorism bill that allowed the SDF to assist the US military in the war against terrorism. Katsuhiro Shigemoto, head of the 1,300-strong Foundation for Global Peace and Environment, says of the draft emergency law: "The bill is simply aimed at displaying a show of support for the United States that went to war in Afghanistan after the terrorist attack. "It is time for Japan to stop following the United States and make clear its role to promote peace," he says. Nabeshima, for his part, says that the proposed laws must be carefully reviewed against the recent changes involving the SDF, and the changed security picture. He recounts that during the Cold War, Japan's defense was premised on a military attack from the Soviet Union. Today, he says, the situation is different. He also suggests that legislators consider talking to and involving neighbors such as South Korea and Southeast Asian countries, to assure them of Japan's good - and benign - intentions. Remarks Nabeshima: "Given Japan's historical militarism, it is better the government expand the emergency security law to a comprehensive system to include other Asian countries." (Inter Press Service) � � __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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