Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of enabling Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense, Kyodo News reported.
The move, which reversed his previous opinions, came after General Toshio Tamogami, the Air Self-Defense Force chief of staff, was sacked Friday over his controversial essay, which asserted that Japan should be allowed to exercise the right to collective self-defense and possess "offensive weaponry," and denied Japan's aggression against other Asian countries during World War II.
At a press conference held on Tuesday, Defense Minster Yasukazu Hamada said that he was instructed by the prime minister to tighten control over public expressions of political opinions by Self-Defense Forces (SDF) officers and punish relevant personnel in the defense ministry and the SDF.
In an essay released Friday, Tamogami said that it is "false" to accuse Japan of having been an aggressor nation before and during World War II.
Japan had been drawn into the Sino-Japanese War by then Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, who headed the Chinese Nationalist Party, said the general, referring to Japan as "a victim" in the essay entitled "Was Japan an Aggressor Nation?"
Japan "is said to have invaded" the Chinese mainland and the Korean Peninsula in the prewar period, wrote Tamogami, adding that few people, however, are aware that the Japanese army "was stationed in these countries on the basis of treaties."
Aso voiced his disapproval of the essay later Friday. Criticizing Tamogami for his viewpoints, Aso said that it is "not appropriate" for an ASDF chief to publish such an essay, even though "in a private capacity."
After taking office in September, Aso advocated changing the government's interpretation of the pacifist Constitution to allow its forces to exercise the right to collective self-defense, saying "...basically the interpretation (of the Constitution) should be changed" and "the matter of the right to collective self-defense is important."
(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2008)
