The planned
revision
for the US-Japan Defense Cooperation agreement, which was scheduled for
release at the end of the month, will be delayed until the “first half of next
year, taking
into account the progress of Japan's legislative process, “according to a
joint
Japanese and US statement. The Japanese parliament is set to take up new
legislation in 2015 to address many of the long-standing restrictions on the
use and deployment of the Japan Self Defense Forces beyond the territories of
Japan, following local elections next spring. Senior US and Japanese officials
said the delay is to ensure “consistency between the revision of the
guidelines,” Japan’s legislative process, and the content of the guidelines, noting
further discussions will help shape the final report. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
approved a
reinterpretation
of the country’s constitution this past summer, which would allow Japanese
forces to come to the defense of allies who are under military threat, in
certain circumstances. The decision ended the so-called “collective self
defense ban.”
