Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday his administration will stand firm against China over its unilateral exploration for natural gas in contested waters in the East China Sea.
Abe was commenting on proposals issued by a Liberal Democratic Party panel calling on the government to take a hard line.
“The handling of the Chinese side comes in violation of their commitment and it stands to reason” that Beijing should remove its drilling facility in the area, Abe said. “We as the government will firmly address the matter.”
China is building a new facility in the area, while bilateral talks on joint development have stalled.
Read whole storyJapan has taken an increasingly proactive role in defending its territory since the end of the Cold War allowed it to shift its defensive posture to address threats from North Korea and China as public memories of the war begin to fade.
With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushing to revise the pacifist Constitution, Japan’s military presence is likely to grow in the years to come. The government at present interprets the Constitution as banning the nation from engaging in the right of collective self-defense. Abe wants this ban lifted.
The latest sign of the looming military growth was the interim
National Defense Program Guidelines released July 26. The document,
which outlines defense policies for the next 10 years, said it is
crucial for the Self-Defense Forces to develop an amphibious warfare
capability so Japan can defend its more than 6,000 islands, including
the disputed Senkaku chain claimed by China and Taiwan. ...
Letter from Einstein to Freud To Sigmund Freud A private letter written around 1931 or the beginning of 1932. Dear Professor Freud: ... (skipped) The political leaders or governments owe their position partly to force and partly to popular election. They can not be regarded as representative of the best elements, morally or intellectually, in their respective nations. (Einstein must mean "political leaders" by national leaders.) The intellectual elite have no direct influence on the history of nations in these days; their lack of cohesion prevents them taking a direct part in the solution of contemporary problems. Don't you think that a change might be brought about in this respect by a free association of people whose previous achievements and actions constitute a guarantee of their ability and purity of aim? This association of an intellectual nature, whose members would need to keep in touch with each other by a constant interchange of opinions, might, by defining its attitude by the Press -- responsibility always resting with the signatories on any given occasion -- acquire a considerable and salutary moral inf luence over the settlement of political questions. (...skipped) But should not an effort in this direction be risked in spite of this? I look upon such an attempt as nothing less than an IMPERATIVE DUTY. If an intellectual association of standing, such as I have described, could be formed, it would also have to make a consistent effort to mobilize the religious organizations for the fight against war. It would give countenance to many whose good intentions are paralyzed totally by a melancholy resignation. Finally, I believe that an association formed of persons such as I have described, each highly esteemed in his own line, would be well suited to give valuable moral support to those elements in the League of Nations which are really working toward the great objective for which that institution exists. I had rather put these proposals to you than to anyone else in the world, because you, least of all men, are the dupe of your desires and because your critical judgment is supported by a most grave sense of responsibility. Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein, p. 104. 1954. ISBN 0-517-55601-4 Tamaki Hosoe, Physiotherapist, Wasa, servant of harmony (^o_) Japan http://www.peace-ashram.org/agenda/contact.html Contact https://plus.google.com/u/0/113124678981053461899/about http://www.facebook.com/tamaki.hosoe http://twitter.com/#!/TamakiHosoe http://homepage2.nifty.com/PEACE/therapist.html Problematique Japan http://homepage2.nifty.com/PEACE/height.html low and heavy http://homepage2.nifty.com/PEACE/wheelchair.html construction design http://homepage2.nifty.com/PEACE/commute.html Public Transportation 2 http://homepage2.nifty.com/PEACE/society-for-education.html http://holistic.blog.shinobi.jp/Category/1/ Boston http://www.peace-ashram.org/ PEACE Ashram http://www.ErgoD.org/ Re/habilitation - Holistic Approach Oriented by * Functionics - Site URL changed http://www.peace-ashram.org/sgi/ Nuclear Free Treaty Organization 非核条約機構 http://www.peace-ashram.org/sgi/wcrw.html 非核条約機構 NFTO http://www.peace-ashram.org/John_F_Kennedy-SoundWorksUSA.mp3 John F. Kennedy http://www.peace-ashram.org/Martin_Luther_King-Jr-SoundWorksUSA.mp3 Martin Luther King Jr.