CRI听力:Security Bills Passing Angers Japanese People and Neighbors

Protestors continued their rally on Thursday outside the parliament building.

Organizers say 10 thousand people showed up on late Wednesday night, demanding the ruling bloc drop the bills.

"The passing of the bills made it a reality that we young people from now have to go to wars. It's no longer someone else's trouble but our own. So I joined this rally thinking I need to do something to change the course."

Polls show over half of the Japanese population is against the bill.

The bills next go to the upper house, where opposition parties can delay a vote although the ruling bloc has a majority. If a no vote is held within 60 days, the bills return to the lower house, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition can enact them with a two-thirds majority.

If enacted, Japanese defense forces would be allowed to be deployed overseas, even if the country itself is not under attack.

Jun Okumura, a political analyst with the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs, says the security bills go against Japan's pacifist constitution.

"Most of Japan's constitutional scholars strongly believe that the interpretations are unconstitutional and it has caused more general, broader fear among the Japanese public. It is not a constitutional interpretation in the whole. It is a complex of legislation and could somehow drive Japan into a war."

The passing of the bills has aroused concerns from the country's neighbors.

On Thursday, Yoo Chang-ho with South Korea's Foreign Ministry said his country will not accept Japan's new security bills if they negatively affect South Korea's national interests.

"The South Korean government's position on Japan's defence policy is that Japan should adhere to the spirit of peaceful constitution and discuss the issue in a transparent way that contributes to maintaining peace and stability. Particularly, we are in a firm, consistent position that does not accept any policy terms (negatively) affecting our state interests."

North Korea also issued a statement on Thursday warning that Japan is making a dangerous step toward militarism.

In China, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying called on Japan to respect the major security concerns of its neighboring countries and not do anything that could damage China's security interests.

Hua also notes that people are justified to question whether Japan will give up its defense posture, or change from the peaceful development path it has followed since the end of World War II.

Hua urges Japan to draw lessons from history and stick to the path of peaceful development.