China said on Thursday Japan should learn from history and maintain peaceful development in Asia, after Japan's ruling party passed a new security bill.
"Changes to Japan's security policies are closely followed by its Asian neighbors and the international community given some historical reasons. We hope that Japan would learn lessons from history, strictly follow a path of peaceful development, and do things positively and conducive to peace, stability and development of Asia," Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his cabinet approved a set of bills Thursday afternoon which revised the country's national security legislation, expanding the scope of the Self-Defense Forces' (SDF) activities overseas and areas in which they can operate.
The revised law would remove the geographical constraint and allow the SDF to render rear-guard support not only to US forces but also to other foreign militaries responding to "situations that gravely affect the peace and security" of Japan. Another proposed reform would allow Japan to exercise, on a limited scale, the right to collective self-defense, or coming to the aid of a friendly nation under attack.
More than 30,000 people including scholars protested against the bills Tuesday and criticized the government for ignoring voices in the Diet and its citizens, according to chinanews.com.
A survey by public broadcaster NHK aired this week showed that 50 percent did not approve of Japan's expanded military role in the new U.S.-Japan defense guidelines.
The Chinese government has also repeatedly expressed its position and concerns to the Japanese side on its right to collective self-defense, calling on Japan to respect the legitimate security concerns of its Asian neighbors and take prudent actions so as not to impair the sovereignty and security.
