Japanese PM bids to expand role of military

The head of a Japanese constitutional watchdog suggested yesterday that it would not block a bid by prime minister Shinzo Abe to ease constraints on the country’s military.

Abe wants to lift Japan’s self-imposed ban on exercising the right of collective self-defence, or coming to the aid of an ally under attack.

Article 9 of the US-drafted, post-war constitution, if taken literally, bans Japan from maintaining a military, but it has already been stretched to allow armed forces as big as France’s.