Japan vows bigger security role in region to tackle threats

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and SYAWALLUDIN ZAIN
Associated Press

SINGAPORE (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has announced plans to boost his country’s diplomatic and security role in the Asia Pacific to tackle what he described as growing threats in the region amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kishida says Japan will consider acquiring a preemptive strike capability in response to an increasingly assertive China, North Korea and now Russia _ a controversial plan that critics say would violate Japan’s war-renouncing Constitution. Kishida has already pledged to bolster Japan’s military capabilities and spending. The plan to expand its security role in Asia, where many countries suffered from its World War II aggression, is a sensitive issue. Kishida says Japan’s defense enhancement will be transparent and remain within the scope of its Constitution.