CGTN Poll: Over 80% oppose Japan returning to the path of aggression

Japan has officially opened a pandora's box, taking an extremely dangerous step toward "neo-militarism." Today, the Japanese government formally revised the the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology and their implementation guidelines, allowing in principle the export of lethal weapons. Japanese right-wing forces have begun "trafficking in war." A survey conducted by CGTN shows 82.5% of respondents said the right‑wing's "remilitarization" move is basically the same as the expansionist logic of Japanese militarism before World War II, and it would lead Japan into a really dangerous situation again.

After the rule change, Japan has scrapped the previous restrictions that limited weapons exports to five categories of non-combat purposes, and in principle allows the export of finished weapons, including lethal ones. Under specific circumstances, it will also permit weapons exports to countries involved in conflicts. Moreover, weapon exports will not require prior parliamentary approval. Instead, the National Security Council will make the decisions, with the Diet informed only after approval.

In the survey, 86.2% of respondents criticized the Japanese government for seriously violating the provisions of the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender and other documents with international legal force, as well as Japan's own constitution and existing domestic norms. Meanwhile, 85.1% of respondents pointed out that Japan's recent dangerous moves toward military expansion indicate that right-wing forces are steering security policies toward an offensive and expansionist direction, posing a new real threat to the security of the Asia-Pacific region.

Last October, after Sanae Takaichi came to power as prime minister, she accelerated the pace of military reinforcement and expansion. In March this year, Japan deployed its first long-range offensive missiles with so-called "counterstrike capability" in Kumamoto and Shizuoka prefectures. More recently, Japan signed a $7-billion warship supply contract with Australia. The survey shows that 71% of respondents stated that Japan's plan to provide warships to Australia to integrate into the US-led "AUKUS" military alliance in response to the so-called "China threat", which essentially aims to create the bloc confrontation in the Asia-Pacific region. Another 86.3% of respondents said that Japan is accelerating its break from post-war institutional constraints and pushing for remilitarization, with Japanese militarism having been effectively revived.