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              Japan Warns of China's 'Assertive' Maritime Actions

   by VOA News

   Japan says China's aggressive maritime activities in the East China Sea
   are among the major threats to the country's security, as Prime
   Minister Shinzo Abe pushes through a series of controversial measures
   aimed at expanding the role of Japan's military.

   In its annual defense review issued Tuesday, Japan's Defense Ministry
   lashed out at Beijing's development of undersea oil and gas reserves in
   the East China Sea, as well as its increasing military presence near a
   series of Japanese-controlled islands that are also claimed by China.

   The report denounced China's activities in the resource-rich South
   China Sea, where it has begun building several artificial islands, a
   move which has escalated tensions between Beijing and several of its
   East Asian neighbors.

   "China, particularly over conflicting maritime issues, continues to act
   in an assertive manner, including coercive attempts at changing the
   status quo, and is poised to fulfill its unilateral demands without
   compromise," the report concluded.

   The Defense Ministry also identified North Korea's nuclear missile
   program as a threat to Japan's security.

   Japan's lower house of parliament has approved legislation that will
   loosen restraints on Japan's Self-Defense Forces, which were imposed in
   the country's post-World War II pacifist constitution.  The
   legislation, among other things, would allow Japan's military to be
   able to defend friendly countries that come under attack.

   "I've said again and again that any conflict should be resolved
   peacefully based on international law - not by the use of force or
   threat. The strong shouldn't abuse the weak on the free seas," said
   Abe.

   The bills now head to the upper chamber of parliament for a vote within
   60 days. While the upper chamber could reject the legislation, Abe has
   enough allies in the more powerful lower chamber to override that
   decision, if necessary.

   Opposition lawmakers and much of the general public are opposed to
   major changes to the pacifist principles outlined in the country's
   70-year-old constitution.

   China's foreign ministry has condemned the passage of the legislation,
   saying it calls into question whether Tokyo will continue its
   "exclusively defense-oriented" policies.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/japan-warns-of-china-assertive-maritime-actions/2871487.html