Japan gets more active in defense
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japan has severed another tie with its post-war pacifist defense posture, with the government adopting new policy guidelines which include a more active role in international conflicts.
The government said the policy reflected the new threats from global terrorism and the changing world political environment, singling out China and North Korea as areas of key concern.
''China, which has significant influence on the region's security, is pushing forward its nuclear and missile capabilities and modernization of its navy and air force,'' the policy outline says, according to a report on the Kyodo news service.
''It is also trying to expand its scope of naval activities and attention must be paid to these developments.''
A Chinese nuclear-powered submarine intruded into Japanese waters last month, although Japan later said Beijing had apologized for what it termed a technical mistake.
Referring to North Korea, the outline describes Pyongyang's military moves as ''a significantly unstable factor in regional security and a serious problem for global nonproliferation efforts.''
The new policy also includes a relaxation of Japan's arms exports ban to enable sales of missile defense components to the United States, a move which underscores a strengthening of Japan's alliance with the U.S.
The changed stance comes a day after the Japanese government agree to extend by a year its domestically unpopular troop deployment in Iraq.
The new policy did not, however, incorporate a controversial recommendation by a panel of academics and business leaders that Japan should consider acquiring a pre-emptive strike capability, Reuters reports.
Japan would rely on the United States for defending it against nuclear attacks, a senior Japanese official told reporters.
"We are not in a position to consider having the capability of attacking missile bases in an enemy country," he said.
Despite the caution on pre-emptive strike capability -- a nod to lingering domestic pacifism -- Japan was likely to acquire such capability in the future, analysts said.
"I think that's inevitable, because it's a basic requirement of modern warfare," Robert Karniol, Asia-Pacific editor for Jane's Defense Weekly in Bangkok, told Reuters.
Japan's 550-troop humanitarian mission to Iraq is the country's largest overseas military operation since the end of World War II. It is based in Samawa in southern Iraq.
The troops there are helping to rebuild infrastructure, purify water and provide medical relief.
Hundreds of other military personnel work on logistics in neighboring countries, including Kuwait.
The mission is unpopular in Japan, according to polls, which show that the majority of citizens want the troops to be brought back home immediately.
Japan's constitution prohibits it from overseas troop deployments that might involve the use of force.
