On July 1st, the cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finally agreed to reinterpret the terms of Japan’s “peace” constitution as a vital step toward exercising its right to collective self-defense. As anticipated, the liberal mass-circulation daily Asahi Shimbun immediately carried articles and commentaries opposing the new international security role the measure will enable Japan to play. The daily’s fierce objection reminds one of a similar campaign it waged 22 years ago to oppose the enactment of the International Peace Cooperation Law, commonly known in Japan as the “PKO” law, which allowed Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) troops to participate in international peace-keeping operations.
　　　　　Rereading the whole series of editorials the Asahi carried at the time opposing the law enacted by the government of then Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa—working in tandem with the Komeito Party and the Democratic Socialist Party—I was compelled to freshly realize how very incapable the Asahi is of comprehending the harsh realities of global geopolitics. For some inexplicable reason, the daily has long failed to slip out of its thick shell of ideological bias: its assertions have fundamentally been like those of someone unable to mature as he constantly turns his back to reality, happily immersed in a world of ideas. Unfortunately, one cannot expect the Asahi—which likes to think of itself as a leading representative of the intelligentsia of the country—to have the principles or sense necessary to explore new horizons.
　　　　　Now—22 years after the enactment of the PKO law in Japan in June 1992—it is clear that the Asahi was completely wrong in its interpretation of where Japan was headed. Let us review the editorials it ran at the time.
　　　　　Its March 17th editorial of that year asserted: “Even if JSDF troops are deployed overseas for international peace-keeping operations, few Japanese would likely think this would lead to Japan’s taking aggressive action against another country. However, one should not forget there are people in Asia who are actually seriously concerned about such a possibility.” The Asahi’s claim is ridiculous: how could the assignment of JSDF troops overseas to engage in peace-keeping operations ever lead to Japan invading another foreign country?
　　　　　Meanwhile, one discerns from its April 24th, 1992 editorial the daily’s strong desire to never see JSDF troops deployed anywhere in the world: “Except for the dispatch of mine sweepers to the Persian Gulf (in 1991), Japan has refrained from deploying JSDF personnel overseas in a combat situation…If deployment of JSDF troops is to be institutionalized from this point on, that will be a significant change in the nation’s posture (towards international security). This is a very serious matter.”
　　　　　Then on June 5th, the Asahi warned: “Involvement in international peace-keeping operations will drastically change post-war Japan, enabling deployment of JSDF troops abroad. This matter cannot be resolved in a rough and ready fashion.”

Thoroughly Pro-China: the Asahi‘s Journalistic Stance

　　　　　Behind the Asahi’s call for more time for Diet deliberations obviously lay a ploy to block the PKO law through procrastination, as its April 8th, 1992 editorial proves.
　　　　　At the time, China was being tried at the bar of international public opinion over the Tiananmen massacre. Seeking to have wide-ranging sanctions lifted, Beijing first worked on Tokyo and managed to have it lift economic sanctions, positioning Japan as the “most fragile link” in an international solidarity against China. On top of that, China succeeded in arranging a state visit by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in October 1992, as it tried to orchestrate the impression that Beijing had shaken itself free from isolation. The Asahi’s April 8th editorial is proof that the daily wholeheartedly backed Beijing’s objectives:
　　　　　“It is desirable (for the Japanese government) to accept Beijing’s repeated invitation and openheartedly (cooperate in) arranging an imperial visit…It would be folly to not accept, turning the propriety of the imperial visit itself into a political issue between Japan and China.”
　　　　　The Asahi warned against turning matters pertaining to the imperial visit into a political issue. However, wasn’t it China that requested the imperial visit to Beijing out of political considerations in the first place? In the same editorial, the Asahi had this to say about Japan taking the lead in lifting economic sanctions against Beijing, amply demonstrating its thoroughly pro-China stance: “Certainly, some nations have criticized Japan for being soft on China’s human rights violations. However, the series of measures Japan has taken on behalf of China, beginning with the lifting of sanctions, has played a certain positive role in helping accelerate the reforms and the opening up of the country.”
　　　　　Turning a blind eye to the Tiananmen incident, in which the Chinese government officially acknowledged that 319 people had been killed, the Asahi urged that the imperial visit be arranged. When Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Japan in April 1992, the Asahi asserted as follows: “In his address, President Jiang Zemin touched on past relations between our two countries, which he said have been marked by ‘enormous tragedies suffered by the Chinese,’ holding Japanese militarism accountable. (Jiang also stated that) the PKO bill allowing for deployment of JSDF troops overseas is viewed by the Chinese as deeply connected with ‘Japan’s past.’”
　　　　　Obviously, what the Asahi intended to warn was that China was critical of the PKO law because its people have never forgotten Japan’s “militaristic past.” However, what the Asahi failed to understand is that the leader of any nation that kills its own people en mass and suppresses a movement for democracy really does not qualify to make comments on the PKO activities of another country.
　　　　　Reading this editorial along with another dated March 16th, 1992, one gets a pretty good idea of the twisted values the Asahi cherishes: “In April, two exclusive government jumbo jets will be attached to the Defense Agency (more specifically, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force) to be used when flying the prime minister on overseas visits, as well as evacuating Japanese citizens from areas affected by natural disasters or international strife. In preparation for such occasions, a bill revising the existing Self-Defense Forces Act entitling JSDF personnel to transport Japanese residing or visiting overseas, has been submitted to the Diet. The problem with this bill is that it will enable not only the two government jumbo jets but also every other aircraft belonging to the JSDF on future missions to rescue and evacuate Japanese residents and tourists in times of natural disasters or international conflicts.”

The Asahi Was Completely Mistaken

　　　　　There is something fundamentally wrong with the Asahi’s posture as a responsible national daily. How come it refused to approve of the JSDF flying its own aircraft in order to rescue Japanese citizens overseas while it so nonchalantly overlooks anything that China does wrong, including the suppression of democracy and the massacre of its citizens?
　　　　　More than 22 years have lapsed since then, with JSDF troops having expanded their scope of international peace-keeping operations without attracting any criticism of Japan as an aggressor from anywhere in Asia. On the contrary, JSDF forces have been given a big welcome wherever they have been assigned. In point of fact, during the June 6th, 2004 Sea Island Summit in Georgia (US), then Iraqi President Ghazi Mashal al-Yawer spoke admiringly to then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, saying: “Of all the foreign troops dispatched to Iraq, our people have welcomed Japanese troops the most.”
　　　　　Koichiro Bansho, who in 2004 commanded the Ground Self-Defense Force as a colonel in its reconstruction aid activities in Samawah, southern Iraq, recalls the citizens, young and old, saw him and his men off with tears in their eyes on the day his troops withdrew from Iraq. Masahisa Sato, a Liberal-Democratic lawmaker who commanded the Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group in Iran, also in 2004, reminisces: “The people there didn’t want us to leave. They pleaded with us to stay with them for a longer time.”
　　　　　The Asahi was completely mistaken. The problem is that the assertions by the daily, which of course is bitterly against Japan’s exercise of its right to collective self-defense, is haunted by an abnormal feeling of déjà vu, tenaciously clinging to what it only imagines it has “already seen happen before.” The Asahi’s campaign opposing the PKO bill was indeed fierce two decades ago, and so has its opposition been to the recent cabinet efforts to lift Japan’s self-imposed ban on the exercise of collective self-defense. In fact, in the 19 months since the second Abe administration was inaugurated in December 2012, the Asahi had until July 1st this year, devoted considerable effort to opposing collective self-defense through a total of 60 editorials and 19 of its popular “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” columns.
　　　　　Another marked characteristic of the Asahi’s modus operandi is to attack the government by tenaciously repeating absolutely groundless charges reflected in such headlines as “Abe’s Dangerous Deviation From Pacifism” (September 17th, 2013) and “Japan Reverting to Pre-War Days under Abe Administration” (December 13th, 2013)—arbitrarily concluding that Abe’s vision as a national leader “will not be understood either at home and abroad.”
　　　　　In point of fact, the only nations that are opposed to Japan’s use of collective self-defense appear to be China, South Korea, and North Korea—with the nations of Southeast Asia, Australia, India, and the US all in favor. And yet, the Asahi never bothers to mention that.
　　　　　Be that as it may, what is decisively lacking in the Asahi’s assertions is a fundamental recognition of the sea change the international community is undergoing today. Without being able to come to grips with today’s geopolitical reality, the Asahi is not qualified to discuss vital matters pertaining to global security—including Japan’s right to collective self-defense.

(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column no. 614 in the July 10, 2014 issue of The Weekly Shincho)