More and more Japanese oppose collective self-defense

According to the latest public opinion survey by Kyodo news agency, 55.4% of respondents expressed opposition to the Japanese government lifting the self-imposed ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense, up from 48.1% last month.

In a nationwide telephone survey conducted on June 21 and 22, 57.7 percent also opposed the government's plan to lift the long-standing ban by changing the interpretation of the pacifist Constitution instead of revising it, while 29.6 percent expressed support.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Source: AFP/VNA)

The survey also found that 62.1 percent were concerned that the scope of Japan's exercise of the right to collective self-defense would expand once the ban was lifted, and 74.1 percent said the ruling parties should set a time frame to end discussions on the issue.

Mr. Abe hopes to change the interpretation of the Constitution to create a basis for the Self-Defense Forces to defend allies against an armed attack, coinciding with the revision of the document guiding US-Japan defense cooperation by the end of this year.

For decades, Tokyo has maintained that Japan has the right to collective self-defense but cannot exercise it due to Article 9 of the pacifist Constitution, which prohibits the use of force to settle international disputes.

According to the survey, 34.5% said they supported Japan exercising the right to collective self-defense, down from 39% last month.

The approval rating for Abe's Cabinet fell to 52.1 percent, down 2.6 percentage points from a May survey and the second lowest since his Cabinet took office in December 2012.

On the economic front, 36% support the planned tax increase in October 2015 to 10% from 8% while 59.7% oppose it, up 3.1 percentage points from last time.

On the issue of nuclear power plants, currently idled after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, 36.8% support restarting them if their safety is confirmed while 55.2% oppose restarting them.

The survey showed that public opinion expressed mixed views on Pyongyang's agreement to reinvestigate the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago, with 47.3% saying the move would help resolve the issue and 50.8% not expecting much from the investigation.

The recent telephone survey was conducted on 1,471 households with eligible voters, of which 1,018 families responded./.

According to VNA