The Liberal Democratic Party and its ruling coalition partner Komeito have effectively wrapped up their talks on a package of security legislation prepared by the Abe administration to enable Japan to engage in collective self-defense and to expand the scope of the Self-Defense Forces' overseas missions. The parties managed to paper over their differences on the bills in time for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the United States next week, in which Abe plans to confirm deepening of the bilateral security alliance with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Many of the core questions over the legislation remain unanswered. Of particular concern is the very broad definition of emergency situations that "threaten Japan's survival," which will allow Japan to take joint military action with its ally even when the nation is not directly under attack. The Diet needs to scrutinize the legislation and expose its problems.
The Japanese and U.S. governments plan to finish up the revision to the 1997 guidelines on defense cooperation between the two countries ahead of Abe's talks with Obama. Under the new guidelines, Japan and the U.S. are expected to eliminate geographical boundaries in their military cooperation — essentially paving the way for joint operations on a global scale — and beef up their ties in space and in cyberspace. Even though the features of the new guideline are closely linked to the planned security legislation, the government will be wrapping up the deal with Washington before the legislation is endorsed by the Cabinet or tabled in the Diet.