End to civilian control over Self-Defense Forces advances Japan's militarization

The Japanese Diet enacted legislation on Wednesday that strips civilian defense officials of their authority over officers of the Self-Defense Forces, placing them instead "on an equal footing". This ends the civilian control over the SDF after six decades. Comments:

The authority of civilian officials has long been doubted by many Japanese military officers, who argued the arrangement would be inefficient in an emergency. Given the increasingly obvious right-wing tendency among Tokyo's decision-makers, the termination of civilian control on the SDF will not only benefit the SDF officers, but also reduce the restrictions on their use of force.

Yang Danzhi, a researcher at the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, June 11