Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may use an address to Australia's parliament this week to outline plans for expanding the nation's military role in joint exercises carried out under the mantle of collective self-defense — a move that has been welcomed by the U.S. but opposed by China as well as the majority of the public.
"Abe's speech to the Australian Parliament will be of much broader significance than just its part in Australia-Japan relations," Greg Sheridan, foreign editor of The Australian newspaper, wrote in an editorial on Saturday. "The whole world, or certainly the entire global strategic class, will be watching."
Abe's Cabinet on July 1 approved a reinterpretation of Article 9 of the nation's pacifist Constitution to allow military action in concert with other countries in situations where Japan's security is endangered.