Ishii speaks on proposed security bill, emphasizes “defense only” policy

May 6 , 2015

Ishii (holding mike) spoke at Mito on May 5Ishii (holding mike) spoke at Mito on May 5

Keiichi Ishii, chair of Komeito’s Policy Research Council, spoke at a public rally held at the city of Mito in Ibaraki prefecture celebrating Japan’s May 3 Constitution Day on Wednesday, May 5. In his speech, Ishii said that Japan’s longstanding “defense-only” policy must be maintained as part of the overall security legislation framework currently being prepared by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, the two political partners in Japan’s coalition government.

Under the legislative package, Ishii explained, Japanese self-defense forces could only be sent overseas if their deployment was justified under international law as mandated by a United Nations resolution and endorsed by the Japanese Diet in advance.