Japan creates ominous council

On Dec 4, 2013, Japan officially established its National Security Council, tasked with devising and strengthening the country's foreign and defense strategies. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the NSC will enable the government to make strategic decisions on security and diplomacy to suit prevailing situations.

Different from Japan's previous security council that comprised nine ministers, the NSC has a framework under which the prime minister, foreign and defense ministers, and the chief cabinet secretary will meet once every fortnight to discuss security issues. The NSC's 60-member National Security Bureau, to be set up as part of the cabinet secretariat, will focus mainly on strategic coordination with its allies and friendly countries, strategic containment of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, gathering information and centralizing strategic decisions.

The Abe government submitted the bill to set up a US-style security council in parliament on June 7, and the Upper House of the parliament approved it on Nov 27. A similar bill tabled in the parliament during Abe's first term as prime minister was dropped after he resigned in September 2007 after being in office for one year. Abe finally got the parliament to approve the establishment of the NSC in his second term.