PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE OF JAPAN NOT MINCING WORDS IN ASIA WITH WANTING TO TAKE GREATER CONTROL OF ITS NEW SECURITY ROLE–WITH THE 5TH LARGEST NAVY IN THE WORLD–TO COUNTER THE RUSSIAN AND CHINESE THREAT

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will send a clear message to the United States when he visits Washington next week: Japan is ready to take more responsibility for security on the world stage.

Behind that message, the conservative leader will want fresh assurances that America will show up if needed in any clash with China, conversations with politicians and experts show.

“America of course has been committed to and has interest in Asia, but we would like it to turn its eyes even more to Asia, and build up its influence toward China,”  Hajime Funada, head of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) panel on revising Japan’s pacifist constitution, told Reuters in an interview.

“We have a sense of crisis that (Chinese President) Xi Jinping ... is increasing China’s hegemonic motivation.”

Constrained by its pacifist constitution, Japan was for decades criticised in the United States for free-riding on U.S. military spending and using money that it would otherwise have used on its own defense to fund its economic development.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/abe-to-tell-u-s-leaders-japan-ready-for-bigger-security-role