More than 100 people staged a rally in front of the Japanese representative office in Taipei yesterday in protest against Tokyo’s recent decision to overturn a post-World War II ban on overseas engagements by its military.
The protest coincided with the 77th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the beginning of Japan’s full invasion of China that led to an eight-year war between the two nations that ended in 1945.
The protesters gathered in front of Japan’s Interchange Association office, which represents Japanese interests in the nation in the absence of diplomatic relations.
Photo: AFP
Organized by the Labor Party, the protesters chanted slogans such as: “Don’t forget the July 7 incident,” “maintain peace in Asia” and “oppose Japan’s exercise of collective self-defense.”
They also set ablaze a picture of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but the fire was immediately put out by police officers.
Before the one-hour rally ended peacefully, Labor Party Chairman Wu Rong-yuan (吳榮元) delivered a letter of protest to Kazuhisa Nurata, an official with the Interchange Association, who said he would pass the message to his superiors.
Last week, the Japanese Cabinet approved a proposal to reinterpret the nation’s pacifist post-war constitution and lift a ban on collective self-defense.
Collective self-defense allows Japan to use force to protect and defend its allies, not just itself. The move sparked concerns that Japan will take more aggressive military action in the future.
Japan’s 1947 constitution says Japanese forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation. It was crafted to prevent a repeat of Japan’s invasion and occupation of large parts of Asia.
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