Op-Ed Contributors

Adopting the right approach

By Zhang Lili (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-11 07:53

Naoto Kan's apology to the ROK and unvarying position on a key constitutional interpretation will help keep regional peace

Remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan last Thursday that there was no plan afoot to alter a key government interpretation of the constitution's Article 9, which renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation, will play a positive role in maintaining peace and stability in East Asia and ease ongoing tensions in the region.

Kan on Tuesday also apologized to the Republic of Korea (ROK) for suffering under his country's colonization of the Korean Peninsula a century ago.

Related readings:  Japan apologizes to SKorea for colonial rule  Japan Cabinet ministers to shun Yasukuni Shrine on Aug 15  S Korea positively assesses Japan's apology

At a session of the House of Councilors' Budget Committee last Thursday, Kan said that there was no move to change the interpretation, which prohibits the country from exercising its right of "collective self-defense".

As per the Japanese government view of Article 9 of the nation's constitution, Japan has the right of collective self-defense under international law. "It is, however, not permissible to use the right, that is, to stop armed attack on another country with armed strength, although Japan is not under direct attack, since it exceeds the limit of use of armed strength as permitted under Article 9 of the Constitution."

Kan also said Tokyo would adhere to the principles of not possessing, producing or allowing nuclear weapons on Japanese territory.

Kan's remarks have come at a time of heightened tensions in the region after the controversial US-ROK joint military exercises, which has followed the alleged torpedoing of a ROK warship by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in March.

August has been a sensitive month in Japan ever since its World War II defeat in Aug 1945. Around this time during previous years, some Japanese politicians have made inappropriate remarks about Tokyo's wartime history, which often ignited diplomatic disputes with neighboring nations.

This is the first August after the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) assumed office last year. The ruling party's position on historical issues will likely determine Japan's diplomatic roadmap in the coming months.

At a memorial ceremony for the nuclear bombing victims of Hiroshima on Friday, Kan also said that Japan, as the only nation to have faced a nuclear attack, is morally committed to building a world free of nuclear weapons.

Even so, the Japanese prime minister said Japan still needed some kind of nuclear deterrence. He also did not respond to questions on his position regarding whether or not the three non-nuclear principles should be enshrined into the country's constitution.

The same day, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said he would not pay homage to the souls of the war dead at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.

As the country's foreign minister, Okada said, it was inappropriate for him to visit a place that venerated many Class-A wartime criminals.