Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) on Sunday voiced his support for the Japanese government’s decision to reinterpret its pacifist constitution to allow Japan to use force under the right of “collective self-defense.”
Allowing Japan such a right would free the country from having to rely on the US for its security, Lee said in a speech in Tokyo.
It would also please the US, as the military strength of the US is being dragged down by its slow economy, he said.
Lee said he admired the decision made by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet and believed it would solidify the alliance between Japan and the US.
In July, Abe announced a reinterpretation of Japan’s constitution that would allow the nation’s military to exercise the right to collective self-defense and to defend its allies.
A series of laws must still be revised to carry out the decision, but if the amendments go through, it will be the most significant change to the Japanese constitution since it took effect more than 60 years ago.
Lee last visited Japan in September 2009. His current visit is his sixth to Japan since he left office in May 2000.
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Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious