集団的自衛権―首相は何をしたいのか

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 9
EDITORIAL: What is Abe's real motive for collective self-defense?
集団的自衛権―首相は何をしたいのか

The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken a first step toward allowing Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense. At Abe's request, an advisory council of experts has begun to discuss the issue.
　集団的自衛権の行使に道を開くため、安倍政権が、有識者による懇談会で検討を始めた。

Abe says the move is aimed at strengthening Japan's security alliance with the United States.
　それによって日米同盟を強化するのだと安倍首相は言う。

In what way, then, does he want to change the bilateral alliance? Won't the change that he envisions set the stage for a gradual erosion of the pacifist principles of the postwar Constitution?
　では、日米同盟をどう変えたいのか。平和憲法の原則をなし崩しにすることはないか。

Abe should offer clear answers to these and other key questions at the outset of the policy debate on this issue.
議論の出発にあたり、首相はまずそのことを明確にすべきだ。

If Japan were to exercise its right to collective self-defense, it would regard an attack on the United States, Japan’s ally, as an attack against itself and mobilize its Self-Defense Forces to fight against the attacker along with the United States.
　同盟国である米国が攻撃されたら、それを日本に対する攻撃とみなし、米国を守るために自衛隊が戦う。集団的自衛権の行使を日本に当てはめれば、こういうことだ。

In the postwar period, Japan has consistently held the position that its use of armed force must be limited to the minimum necessary for self-defense under the restrictions imposed by the war-renouncing Constitution.
　日本は戦後、憲法の制約のもと、自衛のための必要最小限の武力行使しか許されないとの立場をとってきた。

According to the traditional interpretation of the government, Japan would cross the line and violate the Constitution if it enters war to help defend the United States when Japan has not been attacked directly.
　日本が直接攻撃されていないのに米国を守るのはこの一線を越え、憲法違反だというのがこれまでの政府の解釈である。

Abe, however, argues that Japan needs to change this interpretation so that it will be able to defend the United States in certain situations. Otherwise, he says, the trust between Japan and the United States will collapse.
　この解釈を改め、いくつかのケースでは米国を守れるようにしよう。さもないと日米の信頼関係が壊れると首相は唱える。

Tension has been mounting between Japan and China due to a fresh flare-up of their territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, while North Korea has continued test-firing missiles and carrying out nuclear tests in defiance of international calls for an end to these weapons programs. Abe's push for collective self-defense is likely designed partly to put pressure on these neighbors.
　尖閣諸島をめぐって日中間の緊張が続き、北朝鮮がミサイル発射や核実験を繰り返すなか、それへの牽制（けんせい）の意味もあるのだろう。

In making his case, Abe has often cited the following scenarios: an attack has been launched against a U.S. warship operating close to an SDF vessel; or, a missile that could be headed toward the United States is detected by Japanese radar.
　首相がしばしば挙げるのが次のようなケースだ。
　▽自衛艦の近くにいる米艦が攻撃を受けた▽米国に向かうかもしれないミサイルを日本のレーダーが捕捉した――。

According to the government's current view, however, in cases where a U.S. vessel sailing alongside a Japanese ship comes under attack, the SDF ship is permitted to strike back as a way to defend itself.
　だが、政府の見解では、日米の艦船が並走しているようなときに攻撃を受ければ、自衛艦がみずからを守る名目で、これに反撃できる。

As for the second scenario, Japan's current missile defense system doesn't have the ability to shoot down a missile flying toward the United States.
　さらに、現在のミサイル防衛には、米本土に向かうミサイルを撃ち落とす能力はない。

Moreover, the defense systems of Japan and the United States are already linked closely and strongly.
　一方で、日米の防衛体制はすでに深く結びついている。

In modern warfare, certain kinds of information are crucial for securing a victory, such as the locations of submarines and signs of missile launches and their trajectories, and the two countries share a broad array of such vital information.
例えば、現代戦のゆくえを決するのは、潜水艦の位置や、ミサイル発射の兆候や軌道などの情報だが、日米は多くの情報を共有している。

What, then, does Abe want to realize beyond the current level of bilateral defense cooperation?
　これ以上、いったい何をしたいというのか。

The security situation in East Asia is changing dramatically, and it is probably necessary to adjust the bilateral security cooperation flexibly in response to these changes. But why should that require Japan to commit itself to collective self-defense?
　東アジア情勢は大きく動いている。日米協力のあり方も、状況にあわせて変える必要はあるだろう。だからといって、なぜ集団的自衛権なのか。

Abe's Liberal Democratic Party is seeking to enact a fundamental law for national security that would allow Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense in a wide range of situations.
　自民党は、その行使を幅広く認める国家安全保障基本法の制定をめざしている。

Is Abe trying to use this legislation to brush aside the constitutional principle of limiting the use of armed force to the minimum necessary for self-defense and the safeguards Japan has built up over the years to protect that principle?
　これによって、憲法が求める「必要最小限の自衛」という原則や、それを具体化するために積み上げてきた数々の歯止めを一気に取り払おうとしているのではないか。

If so, his initiative will only undermine Japan's national interests.
　だとすれば、かえって国益を損なうだけである。