End to civilian control over Self-Defense Forces advances Japan's militarization

A protester raises a placard as they gather at a rally against Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to expand Japan's military role in front of Abe's official residence in Tokyo June 30, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

The Japanese Diet enacted legislation on Wednesday that strips civilian defense officials of their authority over officers of the Self-Defense Forces, placing them instead "on an equal footing". This ends the civilian control over the SDF after six decades. Comments:

The authority of civilian officials has long been doubted by many Japanese military officers, who argued the arrangement would be inefficient in an emergency. Given the increasingly obvious right-wing tendency among Tokyo's decision-makers, the termination of civilian control on the SDF will not only benefit the SDF officers, but also reduce the restrictions on their use of force.

Yang Danzhi, a researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, June 11

The latest revision to the political hierarchy of Japan's Defense Ministry, once again makes clear the country's request to be treated as a "normal state", possessing the "normal power" to play a larger role in international affairs in defiance of current constitutional limits.

Hu Jiping, director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, June 11

The civilian control over the SDF was imposed on the basis of the Imperial Japanese Army's wartime history and Japan's pacifist Constitution. Abolishing it means that the SDF commanders now take the lead in making military decisions. However, in light of the SDF's past, it seems a number of senior military officers hold a much more dangerous attitude toward Japan's Constitution than the civilian officials did.

Xinhua Daily Telegraph, March 8

Apart from marginalizing the civilian officials and promoting the authority of military officers, the relinquishment of civilian control also aims at pushing for "military control" as a boost to Japan's emerging militarization. In other words, Tokyo's claim it wanted to "avoid repeating the mistakes of the past" was never about reflecting on its war crimes, but instead its concern that militarization would fail.

Zeng Jinrun, a guest commentator with sohu.com, June 11