Will “China threat” cliche help Abe ease domestic tensions on war bills?

TOKYO, July 29 (Xinhua) — The upper house of Japan‘s bicameral Diet has discussed a series of unpopular security-related bills from Monday, but unlike similar debates in the lower house, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his fellow ministers, as well as lawmakers from Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), directly pointed to and chided China as posing a threat to Japan’s national security.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Tuesday in the upper house that China’s reclamation projects and oil exploration in the South China Sea and East China Sea respectively are undeniably affecting Japan’s security situation.

Furthermore, Abe himself mentioned the issues twice in as many days and said that Japan needs to enhance its deterrence through the security legislation so as to counter China’s moves in the regions.

Since the Abe-led ruling coalition rammed the bills through parliament’s lower house on July 16 amid strong public opposition and confusion, the support rate for the prime minister’s Cabinet dived about 10 percentage points to around 37 percent, while its disapproval rate surged to more than 50 percent.

For Abe’s government, it is paramount to regain support through rationalizing the controversial bills ahead of new hard tasks, specifically, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks, restarting of the idled nuclear plants and the closely watched war anniversary statement.

The mishandling of these sensitive undertakings could again slash the approval rating for Abe’s Cabinet and, as analysts have attested, could ultimately influence an upper house election next year — a key election for Abe to launch his campaign to amend Japan’s war-renouncing Constitution.