The Democratic Party of Japan finished its proposals Tuesday for revising bills covering updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines, including the requirement of advanced Diet approval for plans involving the Self-Defense Forces.
An in-house committee for the largest opposition party enumerated six major points of amendment proposals for the bills, including the Diet's involvement in approving SDF missions to support the U.S. military.
While the original bills say that plans for SDF operations must be submitted to the legislature without delay, Diet approvals are not required.
The DPJ's proposal say the bills should be revised so that plans involving the SDF should obtain Diet approval beforehand. In cases of high-level emergencies, the proposal said, the SDF's dispatch plan should be approved by the Diet immediately after the SDF is dispatched. If the plan fails to obtain a Diet approval, the dispatch should be withdrawn.
Also the party demanded that the phrase "within the framework of the Japan-U.S. security pact" be included in the bills concerning the operations that would be conducted based on the guidelines.
Concerning the definition of emergencies for which the SDF would be sent, the DPJ said the bills should include the phrase "an emergency that could lead to military attacks against Japan" in addition to the original phrase. The original bills state the SDF would be dispatched in cooperation with U.S. forces for an emergency threatening Japan's peace and security in areas surrounding Japan.
DPJ chief Naoto Kan said his party will present the amendment proposals at the meeting of board members of the Lower House special committee and discuss them with both ruling and opposition parties. Board members of the committee are scheduled to meet Friday.