Words some thought might never be uttered given the Japan-Philippines history. Now we will hear the arguments for Korea and Japan to get along as well, e.g., if the Philippines can why can't the Koreans?. But the Philippines and Korea are very different culturally and their experiences with Japan had significantly different durations (though both suffered horrendously under Japanese rule). And of course they face different threats. And sure this will upset Beijing; however, I think Manila wants to have both the US and Japan in its corner when dealing with China and I am sure this is also a hedge for the future so that the Philippines can hopefully have at least one ally to back it up (does this illustrate a lack of confidence in the long term strategy of the US?)
V/R
Dave
December 9, 2012 8:00 pm
Philippines backs rearming of Japan
By David Pilling and Roel Landingin in Manila and Jonathan Soble in Tokyo
The Philippines would strongly support a rearmed Japan shorn of its pacifist constitution as a counterweight to the growing military assertiveness of China, according to the Philippine foreign minister.
“We would welcome that very much,” Albert del Rosario told the Financial Times in an interview. “We are looking for balancing factors in the region and Japan could be a significant balancing factor.”
The unusual statement, which risks upsetting Beijing,reflects alarm in Manila at what it sees as Chinese provocation over the South China Sea, virtually all of which is claimed by Beijing. It also comes days before an election in Japan that could see the return as prime minister of Shinzo Abe, who is committed to revising Japan’s pacifist constitution and to beefing up its military.
A constitutional revision that upgraded Japan’s Self-Defence Forces to a fully fledged military would allow it far more freedom to operate and could change the military balance in Asia. In spite of its official pacifism, Japan’s armed forces do not lack for hardware. Its navy has about 50 large surface ships, compared with China’s 70-odd.
Support from other Asian nations for a rearmed Japan could embolden Mr Abe to change the constitution.
(Continued at the link below)
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