Japan ruling bloc near agreement on change of Constitution

World Today

It has been Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ambition, for Japan to reinterpret its pacifist constitution and adopt the long-prohibited right of collective self-defense.

And after several heated discussions within the ruling coalition, Abe administration is looking likely to reach consensus on its final draft. Japan has been alone among sovereign states in self-imposing a ban on exercise of the UN-sanctioned right of “collective self-defense.”

The crucial factor has been the government ‘official interpretation of Article 9 of the constitution, which basically renounces war as Japan’ sovereign right and forbids it from threatening or using force to settle international disputes.

CCTV’s Terrence Terashima reports from Tokyo.

Japan likely to amend constitution

It has been Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ambition, for Japan to reinterpret its pacifist constitution and adopt the long-prohibited right of collective self-defense. CCTV's Terrence Terashima reports from Tokyo.