Japan loosening restrictions on military?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Japan able to aid US ships under attack, says minister

Japan's new policy on military action would allow its forces to come to the aid of a US naval ship under attack, Tokyo's defense minister said Friday.

If US warships were sent to defend Japan, and those ships were attacked, the Japanese "constitution was interpreted to say we could not help that ship," Onodera told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

But taking action to assist an ally was "what an ally should naturally do," he said through an interpreter. "That's how this change in policy should be understood."

[Russell]

Very much related to this thread...

China friendless in anti-U.S. drive

Nearly three decades after Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping famously instructed his diplomats to “be good at maintaining a low profile and never claim leadership,” a new generation of rulers has made it clear that they are ready to shed humility and show off their country’s rising military and political power.

From Southeast Asian waters that may hold billions of barrels of oil to uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, China has stepped into territorial disputes with neighbors including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines — and in some cases provoked them, some would say. At the same time, Beijing has pledged to build what it says will be a new security framework for Asia, replacing U.S.-dominated alliances that have defined the post-World War II period.

“We should work for a new architecture of Asia-Pacific security cooperation that is open, transparent and equality-based,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told dignitaries from India and Myanmar last month. “The notion of dominating international affairs belongs to a different age, and such an attempt is doomed to failure.”

Yet despite Xi’s depiction of China as a “peaceful, amiable and civilized lion,” the country’s moves have so far set off alarms across the region and pushed other Asian countries to seek backup from Washington. Promises to build a self-governing Asian community of nations have amounted to little more than words. The reality has been what many see as Chinese bullying.

Xi, who has shown similar boldness at home since rising to power last year, is at the heart of the new strategy. For the first time in decades, Chinese officials are emphasizing an “active” foreign policy that sets the regional agenda while touting China’s maritime strength.

“This is a very strong theme with him,” said Christopher Johnson, a former China analyst with the CIA who is now chairman of China studies at a U.S. think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s bound up in his view of himself as not only the savior of the party but kind of an instrument of history, with the goal being this great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

That means showing “strong willingness to counter U.S. influence in the region,” said Alice Ekman, head of China research at the French Institute of International Relations. Chinese officials have been especially critical of the Obama administration’s touted “pivot to Asia,” with diplomats openly mocking America’s ability to police the region.

“We are seeing at several levels — economic, institutional, political, security — a reinforced competition between China and the U.S. in the region since Xi’s arrival.” Ekman said at a recent lecture in Beijing on China’s foreign policy.

She said China’s growing dominance of the global economy, and its neighbors’ dependence on Chinese trade, is central to the strategy. “China’s moves in the region are based on the following hypothesis: Time moves in favor of China as long as the economic attractiveness of China will reinforce the balance of power in favor of China,” she said.

Xi’s immediate goal is to give his country’s forces tactical military superiority within what is called the first island chain off China’s shores, from Japan down to Indonesia, Johnson said.

In May, Chinese officials sent an oil rig into parts of the South China Sea claimed by both China and Vietnam, setting off repeated confrontations between the two countries’ ships and sparking anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam. In the nearby Spratly archipelago, the Chinese have been adding sand to reefs and rocks so they can build military installations despite claims to the outcroppings by both Vietnam and the Philippines.

[...]

China has appeared to be more active in defending territorial claims than it has been in pursuing a new alliance of Asian countries. At a China-hosted summit in May of some four dozen countries and international groups, Xi touted what he said would be a new Asian security network that would exclude the U.S., but he left the meeting with few solid steps to actually building such a framework.

Australian Cabinet minister Malcolm Turnbull said China has found itself largely alone, at least diplomatically, as it shows its teeth to the region. “It has really no allies in the region, apart from North Korea,” Turnbull was quoted as saying at a recent security and economic leadership conference. “And the consequence has been how China’s neighbors are drawing closer to the United States than ever before.”

With tensions high over China, U.S. President Barack Obama paid high-profile visits to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines in April. He reassured governments that the U.S. would honor agreements to defend them.

Japanese leaders took matters into their own hands a week ago when they reinterpreted the pacifist Constitution to let them expand the use of the military to defend allies. The move strengthens Japan’s alliance with the U.S. but also opens the door to new alliances with like-minded Asian countries.

More

[Samurai_Jerk]

http://news.yahoo.com/tokyo-hit-lawsuit-over-expansion-military-power-085513986.html

Tokyo on Friday was slapped with a lawsuit over its decision to expand the scope of Japan's military, a divisive shift for the pacifist nation that sparked protests at home and drew sharp criticism from China.

Tokinao Chindo, 75, a former civil servant in western Mie prefecture, said the move violated Japan's war-renouncing constitution, prompting his lawsuit, believed to be the first such action.

"I hope other Japanese people will follow suit and file legal actions nationwide," Chindo said.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Aged Japan veterans voice concerns about military policy shift

Tokuro Inokuma, a former Imperial Japanese Army soldier, got his first taste of the horrors of war in 1945 when he scrambled to gather up the scattered limbs of his fellow servicemen, blown apart by a U.S. air raid in Japan. He was 16.

One of a dwindling number of World War Two veterans, Inokuma now finds troubling echoes in Tokyo's policy shift away from the pacifist ideals adhered to after 1945.

[matsuki]

Aged Japan veterans voice concerns about military policy shift

Tokuro Inokuma, a former Imperial Japanese Army soldier, got his first taste of the horrors of war in 1945 when he scrambled to gather up the scattered limbs of his fellow servicemen, blown apart by a U.S. air raid in Japan. He was 16.

One of a dwindling number of World War Two veterans, Inokuma now finds troubling echoes in Tokyo's policy shift away from the pacifist ideals adhered to after 1945.

Takehiko Ena, 91, a survivor of two aborted "kamikaze" suicide missions, agrees. On his way to rejoin his unit, he passed through Hiroshima a day after the atomic bomb attack on Aug. 6, 1945, finding himself wading through a sea of bodies.

LOL, is it just me or does this guy reek of bullshit? Survived not one, but two "aborted" suicide missions? Does that mean they never even began the mission? Survived? Passed through Hiroshima a day after the bomb? Any records that he was even in the military?

"We should keep explaining to countries concerned that Japan has vowed not to resort to war again, and that mourning for war dead (at the shrine) should be approved," Ena said.

Approved? It's not illegal?? Public approval? Surviving soldiers, relatives and such, don't see much of a problem with them mourning there....but prime minister going there is more about pandering and making a political statement than "mourning." Are any of Abes ancestors even in there?

(while people in the US are celebrating the end of the war)

[Samurai_Jerk]

There were plenty if kamikaze who never actually had to fly. Calling him a survivor seems more like unnecessary color added by the person who wrote the article than how he described himself.

[Coligny]

There were plenty if kamikaze who never actually had to fly. Calling him a survivor seems more like unnecessary color added by the person who wrote the article than how he described himself.

English (for intrernashiunul audience) please ?

On one side, if they didn't die, then they weren't kamikaze.
On the other side, if they were scheduled to kill themselves and didn't, they are technically survivorz...
SURE you can argue aboot how close to dying you should have been before staying alive. But still, people coming back from the death camps are all called survivors, so, there's some acknowledged leeway on who get this title.

I know, it's neatpicking, but since you're an asshole most of the time, you got it coming after all. Waiting for your standard acid spewing since it's friday, but you treat it like every other day of the week, meaning with a bad case of the monday.

(Didn't say nothing aboot the Group B Ferrari 288 GTO, while she should be called Group B -spec- Ferrari 288 GTO since the Group B was de-established before she could have her first race)

[yanpa]

neatpicking

Candidate for Wage Slave's eggcorn collection?

[Coligny]

Wuz a lapsux... Or can i blame autocorrect ? The tooth fairy ?

[Wage Slave]

neatpicking

Candidate for Wage Slave's eggcorn collection?

Unfortunately not. The person who uses it has to think they are correct. That's more like an ironic (in the post modern sense) neoglogism. If I were being provocative I suppose I could call it hipster argot.

It's a a good one as it happens. My only criticism is that the impact of clever, knowing little plays on words like this is blunted when overused. It's actually nothing new, just madly in fashion.

I might well use this one myself one day though. It's good.

[Wage Slave]

Wuz a lapsux... Or can i blame autocorrect ? The tooth fairy ?

I find that a tad hard to belive -

[Samurai_Jerk]

There were plenty if kamikaze who never actually had to fly. Calling him a survivor seems more like unnecessary color added by the person who wrote the article than how he described himself.

English (for intrernashiunul audience) please ?

On one side, if they didn't die, then they weren't kamikaze.
On the other side, if they were scheduled to kill themselves and didn't, they are technically survivorz...
SURE you can argue aboot how close to dying you should have been before staying alive. But still, people coming back from the death camps are all called survivors, so, there's some acknowledged leeway on who get this title.

Nice try but semantic arguments don't work when you lack the intellectual ability to engage in them. And by "you" I mean you.

[Coligny]

neatpicking

Candidate for Wage Slave's eggcorn collection?

Unfortunately not. The person who uses it has to think they are correct. That's more like an ironic (in the post modern sense) neoglogism. If I were being provocative I suppose I could call it hipster argot.

It's a a good one as it happens. My only criticism is that the impact of clever, knowing little plays on words like this is blunted when overused. It's actually nothing new, just madly in fashion.

I might well use this one myself one day though. It's good.

Did you just called me a hipstur ?

[Coligny]

There were plenty if kamikaze who never actually had to fly. Calling him a survivor seems more like unnecessary color added by the person who wrote the article than how he described himself.

English (for intrernashiunul audience) please ?

On one side, if they didn't die, then they weren't kamikaze.
On the other side, if they were scheduled to kill themselves and didn't, they are technically survivorz...
SURE you can argue aboot how close to dying you should have been before staying alive. But still, people coming back from the death camps are all called survivors, so, there's some acknowledged leeway on who get this title.

Nice try but semantic arguments don't work when you lack the intellectual ability to engage in them. And by "you" I mean you.

Lots of words to shit the equivalent of "lalalalala i can't hear youz poopiehead!"

Posterchild for ad hominem award...

Let me conclude this exchange with a quote from myself:

Potato...

[Wage Slave]

neatpicking

Candidate for Wage Slave's eggcorn collection?

Unfortunately not. The person who uses it has to think they are correct. That's more like an ironic (in the post modern sense) neoglogism. If I were being provocative I suppose I could call it hipster argot.

It's a a good one as it happens. My only criticism is that the impact of clever, knowing little plays on words like this is blunted when overused. It's actually nothing new, just madly in fashion.

I might well use this one myself one day though. It's good.

Did you just called me a hipstur ?

No. You're just very very good at playing around with language. You were no doubt doing it long before Hipsters were even invented.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Japan, U.S. discussing offensive military capability for Tokyo - Japan officials

Japan and the United States are exploring the possibility of Tokyo acquiring offensive weapons that would allow Japan to project power far beyond its borders, Japanese officials said, a move that would likely infuriate China.

While Japan's intensifying rivalry with China dominates the headlines, Tokyo's focus would be the ability to take out North Korean missile bases, said three Japanese officials involved in the process.

[...]

Defense experts say an offensive capability would require a change in Japan's purely defensive military doctrine, which could open the door to billions of dollars worth of offensive missile systems and other hardware. These could take various forms, such as submarine-fired cruise missiles similar to the U.S. Tomahawk.

[...]

Japan's military is already robust but is constrained by a pacifist Constitution. The Self Defense Forces have dozens of naval surface ships, 16 submarines and three helicopter carriers, with more vessels under construction. Japan is also buying 42 advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets.

Reshaping the military into a more assertive force is a core policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He has reversed a decade of military spending cuts, ended a ban on Japanese troops fighting abroad and eased curbs on arms exports.

[...]

But any deal with Washington is years away and the obstacles are significant – from the costs to the heavily indebted Japanese government to concerns about ties with Asian neighbors such as China and sensitivities within the alliance itself.

The Japanese officials said their U.S. counterparts were cautious to the idea, partly because it could outrage China, which accuses Abe of reviving wartime militarism.

The officials declined to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the closed-door deliberations. A Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman said he could not comment on negotiations with Washington.

Japan would need U.S. backing for any shift in military doctrine because it would change the framework of the alliance, often described as America supplying the "sword" of forward-based troops and nuclear deterrence while Japan holds the defensive "shield".

Washington did not have a position on upgrading Japan's offensive capabilities, "in part because the Japanese have not developed a specific concept or come to us with a specific request", said another U.S. official.

"We're not there yet - and they're not there yet," the official said. "We're prepared to have that conversation when they're ready."

[IparryU]

Japan, U.S. discussing offensive military capability for Tokyo - Japan officials

Japan and the United States are exploring the possibility of Tokyo acquiring offensive weapons that would allow Japan to project power far beyond its borders, Japanese officials said, a move that would likely infuriate China.

While Japan's intensifying rivalry with China dominates the headlines, Tokyo's focus would be the ability to take out North Korean missile bases, said three Japanese officials involved in the process.

[...]

Defense experts say an offensive capability would require a change in Japan's purely defensive military doctrine, which could open the door to billions of dollars worth of offensive missile systems and other hardware. These could take various forms, such as submarine-fired cruise missiles similar to the U.S. Tomahawk.

[...]

Japan's military is already robust but is constrained by a pacifist Constitution. The Self Defense Forces have dozens of naval surface ships, 16 submarines and three helicopter carriers, with more vessels under construction. Japan is also buying 42 advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets.

Reshaping the military into a more assertive force is a core policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He has reversed a decade of military spending cuts, ended a ban on Japanese troops fighting abroad and eased curbs on arms exports.

[...]

But any deal with Washington is years away and the obstacles are significant – from the costs to the heavily indebted Japanese government to concerns about ties with Asian neighbors such as China and sensitivities within the alliance itself.

The Japanese officials said their U.S. counterparts were cautious to the idea, partly because it could outrage China, which accuses Abe of reviving wartime militarism.

The officials declined to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the closed-door deliberations. A Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman said he could not comment on negotiations with Washington.

Japan would need U.S. backing for any shift in military doctrine because it would change the framework of the alliance, often described as America supplying the "sword" of forward-based troops and nuclear deterrence while Japan holds the defensive "shield".

Washington did not have a position on upgrading Japan's offensive capabilities, "in part because the Japanese have not developed a specific concept or come to us with a specific request", said another U.S. official.

"We're not there yet - and they're not there yet," the official said. "We're prepared to have that conversation when they're ready."

An ol' goat herder broke this down for me a while back...

They are doing a fuck of a lot more than what you think they are doing. You know, that Japanese humbleness... "we not have strong military, we are very nice and peaceful people"... ya, with your nuke subs and fighter jets...

[Samurai_Jerk]

They are doing a fuck of a lot more than what you think they are doing. You know, that Japanese humbleness... "we not have strong military, we are very nice and peaceful people"... ya, with your nuke subs and fighter jets...

Most people with knowledge of military matters are aware that the SDF is no joke. However, pretending otherwise for all these years has been politically expedient. Not only for appeasing China and South Korea but also for keeping local opposition to US military bases relatively low.

[yanpa]

It's obvious that Japan's military budget, which is ranked a lowly 4th or 5th globally, is spent mainly on fresh flowers which can be inserted to the barrels of enemy guns at short notice.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Japanese navy gets biggest flat-top since WWII-era aircraft carriers

Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force on Wednesday took delivery of the biggest Japanese warship since World War Two, the Izumo, a helicopter carrier as big as the Imperial Navy aircraft carriers that battled the United States in the Pacific.

The Izumo with a crew of 470 sailors is a highly visible example of how Japan is expanding the capability of its military to operate overseas and enters service as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks lawmaker approval to loosen the restraints of Japan's pacifist post-war constitution.

[Coligny]

Can I hug it ?

[Coligny]

...pretty please...

image.jpg

[yanpa]

How does it destroy the helicopters? By ramming them?

[Grumpy Gramps]

I think, they will put helicopters on its flight-deck, then uncle Kim from Pyongyang can hit them with his rockets.

Then they build a new heli-carrier and new helicopters to start the game all over again --> job creaation --> crank the economy --> wonderful "Japan is #1" abenomics

[Russell]

I think, they will put helicopters on its flight-deck, then uncle Kim from Pyongyang can hit them with his rockets.

Then they build a new heli-carrier and new helicopters to start the game all over again --> job creaation --> crank the economy --> wonderful "Japan is #1" abenomics

No concrete involved this time?!?

[Coligny]

How does it destroy the helicopters? By ramming them?

It's Japan... Pilot incompetence will suffice...

But either you are confusing with Aegis type frigates...

Or... Just don't know the accounting trick to call any aircraft carrier a Heavy cruiser/battleship/destroyer with aircraft carrying capabilities... Cause straight carriers were forbidden somewhere in the paperwork... That trick is older than WWII...

[yanpa]

My tongue has an intimate relationship with my cheek.

[Coligny]

My tongue has an intimate relationship with my cheek.

Sounds kinky... wanna cyber ?

633727304434803110-kuznetsov.jpg