Why the alarm over Japan's growing military ambitions

Big protests swept across Japan on May 3 to oppose Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's push to revise the country's pacifist constitution. An estimated 50,000 people gathered at Tokyo Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park to support the country's existing constitution. They seek to oppose changes to the constitution's Article 9, a clause that renounces war and imposes limits on the country's military. Meanwhile, Japan's 2026 defense budget has surpassed 9 trillion yen (around $58 billion), reaching 2% of GDP after 14 consecutive years of increases. As Tokyo accelerates military expansion, many are asking: Why does changing the pacifist constitution alarm so many people at home and abroad?

In Beijing, Baocheng Liu, Director, Center for International Business Ethics, University of International Business and Economics;
In Singapore, Alexis Dudden, Professor of History, University of Connecticut;
In Malaysia, Peter T.C. Chang, Former Deputy Director, Institute of China Studies, University Malaya.

#Japan #military #army #expansion #pacifist #constitution #weapon

00:00 - Beyond defensive
05:33 - Generational change

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