Root of regional instability

Abe's zeal on constitutional revision and collective self-defense contains the deeper questions of what road Japan is taking and in what direction? Next year will be the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Under the auspices of the pacifist Constitution, Japan has followed a road of peaceful development, paying more attention to its economy than its military might.

But Abe wants to lead Japan down a different road. To this end, he has not only visited the Yakusuni Shrine as the backbone of Japan's "together we visit the Yasukuni Shrine lawmakers alliance", he has also questioned the Tokyo war crimes trials, defended the system of "comfort women", sped up the revision of textbooks to deny historical truths and is trying to replace the Murayama Statement, which expresses deep remorse for Japan's colonial rule and aggression. Now he seeks to change Japan institutionally to promote the construction of a military system that can use force abroad.

During his first stint as prime minister, Abe upgraded Japan's Defense Agency to a Ministry of Defense, laying the institutional foundation for turning the country's Self-Defense Forces into a full-fledged military. Japan's military management system and operational command system have now basically completed the transition to a military and the attack capabilities of the SDF have been greatly improved, in particular its motorized combat capability for foreign operations.

Meanwhile, in order to strengthen the administrative power of the prime minister, Japan established its own version of the US National Security Council, and, disregarding fierce public opposition, Abe and his LDP-led coalition pushed through tough legislation to protect state secrets. In this way, the Abe cabinet has formed a new system to strengthen executive power and weaken public supervision in a bid to speed up Japan's overall transformation.

Abe's comprehensive transformation of Japan exhibits the trend of political centralization, but even more dangerous it is preparation for constitutional revision and military buildup. Abe is determined to confront China. So as to strengthen the military and release the Self-Defense Forces from their constraints, he is trying to create the illusion of a "China threat" and seeking to present Japan as the "victim" of China changing the status quo. In doing so, he has made Japan the root of instability in Northeast Asia.

The author is an associate researcher with the China Institute of international Studies.