Worrying words from proactive Abe

The proposal put forward by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Japan should make a more "proactive contribution to peace", which is a translation of a phrase in Japanese that can also be rendered as "proactive pursuit of peace", should be questioned.

Countries in the Asia-Pacific region should be vigilant against Japan's push for a larger role in regional security, said a Xinhua News Agency opinion article.

In a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an international security conference, in Singapore on Friday, Abe talked about the need to defend international laws and to revise Japan's Constitution, which was put in place after the World War II, to remove the lid on the right to collective self-defense. He said the Constitution restricts Japan's global contributions and should be revised, starting with a broader interpretation of the war-renouncing Article 9 to allow Japan's military to help foreign troops.

He also talked about how Japan should play a larger role in regional security by sending its military personnel and defense equipment out of Japan and combining defense programs and government aid.

The fundamental problem with the speech by Abe is that he was shouting for peace while calling for a larger role in international security affairs for Japan's military forces, which are called Self-Defense Forces for a reason.

If Japan's Self-Defense Forces become involved in regional security in the Asia-Pacific, it would be against the nature of the Self-Defense Forces as defined in Japan's Constitution. Actually Abe is not only seeking to violate the pacifist Constitution of Japan, he is also trying to expand his unconstitutional moves to the Asia-Pacific.

Countries in the region should be vigilant against Abe's moves, as Japan is the only Asian country that has inflicted tremendous harm on its neighbors with its military aggression before and during the World War II.

As prime minister, Abe has visited the Yasukuni Shrine and said that the most touching movie he has seen is Eternal Zero, a drama honoring the fighter aircraft used by the Japanese military during WWII. Is this appropriate, especially when the Japanese government refuses to reflect on the horrors it inflicted on the region?

Abe is attempting not only to change Japan's Constitution, but also to challenge the verdict on the war and history.