Japan enacts laws allowing combat missions abroad

Japan has launched new security laws that allow its military to engage in conflicts abroad for reasons other than self-defence, a move critics see as a major deviation from the country’s pacifist constitution. For the first time since World War II, Japan will be able to participate more in international peacekeeping compared with its previous, […]

Japan has launched new security laws that allow its military to engage in conflicts abroad for reasons other than self-defence, a move critics see as a major deviation from the country’s pacifist constitution.
For the first time since World War II, Japan will be able to participate more in international peacekeeping compared with its previous, mostly humanitarian, missions.
The legislation, which took effect on Tuesday after being passed last year despite nationwide protests, have been backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani, who said it was needed to improve international co-operation of armed forces.
The use of force by the Japanese military has been limited to self-defence since World War II ended in 1945.