Security bills signal offensive change

With Japan's lower house of parliament giving the green light to two controversial security bills on Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is one step closer to his ambition of reversing the nation's self-imposed ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense and militarizing its Self-Defense Forces.

Under the security bills, which are still subject to approval by Japan's upper house of parliament, Japan would be able to send its troops abroad for the first time since World War II, and its Self-Defense Forces could fight "under certain conditions" even if Japan itself is not attacked.

Hence, it is crystal clear that if passed the security bills would signal a change in Japan's defense policy from "defensive" to "offensive".