TOKYO-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged political parties to promote
debate on revising Japan's pacifist Constitution, his long-held
political goal, as parliament convened a 150-day ordinary session
Monday.
In his policy speech on the first day of the regular session, Abe
also expressed a desire to improve bilateral ties with China, while
stressing Japan's commitment to standing firm against North Korea's
nuclear weapons and missile development ambitions.
Labor reform and free education, both promised by his ruling Liberal
Democratic Party during the campaign for the House of Representatives
election last October, were also key issues in his address.
Abe, who doubles as the LDP president, told a party meeting in the
morning that constitutional amendment is the party's platform since its
establishment in 1955. "It is high time for us to realize it. Let us
fulfill our responsibility," he said.
In his Diet address, the prime minister said, "We will be creating
our nation, looking ahead 50 years or 100 years. It is the Constitution
that narrates the shape and ideal form" of the country.
He urged political parties to put forward concrete plans and advance
debate to move toward realizing a first-ever amendment to the
Constitution, which took effect in 1947.
LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai said Saturday the party could
present its amendment proposal in March at its convention, saying, "It
is an option to put it forth in the form of an interim report."
Constitutional amendments require the support of at least two-thirds
of lawmakers in both the upper and lower houses and approval by a
majority of voters in a national referendum.
As this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of a peace and
friendship treaty between Japan and China, Abe vowed to realize
reciprocal visits by him and Chinese President Xi Jinping "as soon as
possible" and to host a trilateral summit also involving South Korea.
Describing the two neighboring Asian countries as "inseparable," Abe
said Japan "will seek to meet the expectations of the international
community by developing friendly relations (with China) in a stable
manner."
Abe also said Japan will cooperate with Beijing to meet growing
demand for building infrastructure in Asia, bearing in mind Xi's "One
Belt, One Road" cross-border infrastructure initiative.
On the security front, Abe pledged to bolster Japan's defense
capability, including the introduction of the land-based Aegis Ashore
missile defense system, and review its defense program guidelines as the
country faces the threat of North Korea's nuclear and missile
ambitions.
"It is no exaggeration to say that we are facing the severest
security environment in the postwar era," Abe said, referring to the
North Korean crisis. He vowed to advance "resolute diplomacy" in order
to get Pyongyang to change its policies.
Spurred by an increase in defense spending as well as ballooning
welfare costs, the draft budget for fiscal 2018 hit a record-high 97.71
trillion yen ($883 billion). The government is seeking early passage of
the annual budget and an extra 2.71 trillion yen supplementary budget
for this fiscal year through March.
The premier, meanwhile, reiterated Japan's readiness to push ahead
with his "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy," which pursues stability
and prosperity on the basis of an international rules-based order in the
region. The strategy is seen as aimed at addressing China's maritime
assertiveness.
Saying he has forged a relationship of personal trust with U.S.
President Donald Trump over the past year, Abe said the Japan-U.S.
alliance has been and will be the linchpin of Tokyo's foreign and
security policy.
The premier said he will aim to deepen cooperative relations with
South Korea for a new era, but did not call the country "our most
important neighbor," the phrase he used last year.
South Korean President Moon Jae In earlier this month urged Tokyo to
make a fresh apology to former "comfort women" forced to work in Japan's
wartime military brothels after the two countries agreed in 2015 to
settle the issue "finally and irreversibly." The issue has long been a
source of bilateral friction.
Turning to domestic issues, Abe promised to carry out labor reforms
to boost Japan's workforce and overcome the country's declining
birthrate and aging society, which he called a "national crisis."
The government plans to submit a labor reform-related bill including
imposing a binding cap on long working hours, eliminating the gap
between regular and non-regular employees, and introducing a merit-based
pay system for well-paid highly skilled workers.
But opposition parties have criticized the last proposal, which would
allow firms to exempt skilled workers with high incomes from work-hour
regulations, describing the bill as a "zero overtime pay bill." They say
it would result in overwork.
Using revenues from a consumption tax increase planned in October
next year, the prime minister also vowed to reform Japan's social
security system into one that is oriented to all generations, including
effectively free preschool education.
The government plans to submit a total of 64 bills to the session
through June 20, including ones to regulate passive smoking and to
introduce Japan's proposed casinos to operate as "integrated resorts."
| KYODO NEWS
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