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DPJ and JIP diet members jointly submit "Territorial Security Act" to the Lower House.
DPJ President Okada meets with JIP leaderYorihisa Matsuno.
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On July 8, the Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) jointly submitted a bill for a Territorial Security Act to the House of Representatives.
The bill aims to ensure strengthened cooperation among the Japan Coast Guard, police authorities and the SDF, as well as other related administrative organizations, in order to avoid the deterioration of contingencies, which do not amount to an armed attack [so-called “grey-zone situations”], and is founded on the basic principle of complying with international law. Operational improvements alone, as espoused by the government, are an insufficient means of responding to grey zone situations and the formulation of legislation will enable a swift and seamless response in accordance with the expectations of the people of Japan.
The basic principles of the Territorial Security Act are:
1. Patrol of territorial waters and remote islands is to be dealt with by the police authorities
2. Patrol of territorial airspace is to be dealt with by the SDF
3. Stronger cooperation among the police authorities, the SDF, and other related administrative organizations is to be implemented
4. Deterioration of contingencies is to be avoided and those acts that require a response are to be dealt with by measures that maintain the equilibrium
5. International law is to be complied with.
The two parties had initially abandoned cosponsoring the bill due to their differing positions on Diet affairs. In the morning of July 8, however, a leadership meeting was held and the parties also went through a series of consultations at different levels. Finally, they reached an agreement and jointly submitted the bill to the Diet the same day.
After the meeting with JIP leader Yorihisa Matsuno, DPJ President Katsuya Okada told reporters that both sides agreed (1) to jointly submit the bill to the Diet, (2) that we cannot tolerate the ruling bloc closing the discussions on the security legislation and forcibly putting it on a vote without obtaining public understanding.
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