On May 30, local time, hundreds of Japanese people staged protests against the Japanese government’s substantial increase in defence costs. Japanese experts said that the Japanese government has been moving towards military expansion and has taken actions that clearly violate Japan’s pacifist constitution. It is the United States that is behind the scenes.
Japanese experts said that in recent years, the Japanese government has gradually strengthened its armaments and lifted the military embargo, which obviously violates Japan’s pacifist constitution.
Kenji Utsunomiya, former president of the Japan Bar Association: Strengthening armaments, conducting arms competitions, and greatly increasing the risk of war conflicts are in great contradiction with the Japanese Constitution. In 2015, the Abe government lifted the ban on the right to collective self-defence. Now the Kishida government has changed its security policy, implementing policies that violate Article 9 of the Constitution and strengthening the political and military alliances between Japan, the United States, and South Korea. All these actions are in violation of the Japanese Constitution.
In addition, experts also said that the Japanese government insists on lifting the ban on military power, getting closer to NATO and other organisations, and echoing the establishment of the so-called “international order”, behind which is the United States. It is impossible for the United States to exercise hegemony in the world and bring peace to it.
Kenji Utsunomiya, former president of the Japan Bar Association: I think the Japanese government should take the political line of peaceful diplomacy. But we see that Japan has been under the control of the United States for a long time. I think this is the current political situation in Japan.
Emeritus Professor of Yamaguchi University, Japan: The “order” dominated by the United States is not the order of the world. Unfortunately, the Japanese government is the one that misunderstands this. Only by establishing an international order that people of all countries in the world can agree to can we bring about real peace.
At the same time, experts said that the Japanese government blindly followed the United States and increased defence expenditures at the instigation of the United States. The militaristic behaviour will not only bring peace to the world but will also put enormous pressure on the lives of the Japanese people. popular opposition.
Kenji Utsunomiya, former president of the Japan Bar Association: Increase defence costs, and the insufficient part of the budget should be realised through tax increases. If the tax increase is carried out, the wallets of the Japanese people will be even tighter. Judging from the current policy, it is to cut social security expenditures, which may widen the gap between the rich and the poor in society. Whether such a policy is correct or not, I think it will be severely questioned in the future.