2016年03月30日
安全保障法制の施行 「違憲」の法制、正す論戦を
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 29
EDITORIAL: Diet must debate constitutionality of new security legislation
（社説）安全保障法制の施行 「違憲」の法制、正す論戦を
The new national security legislation expanding the scope of Japan’s military operations took effect on March 29.
新たな安全保障法制がきょう施行された。
The ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, rammed the legislation through the Diet in September in the face of anxiety and opposition among many citizens and criticism by constitutional scholars that it is unconstitutional. The controversial set of laws is now in force.
昨年９月、多くの市民の不安と反対、そして憲法専門家らの「違憲」批判を押し切って安倍政権が強行成立させた法制が、効力を持つことになる。
The legislation, composed of two statutes incorporating the content of 11 bills, significantly expands the scope of Self-Defense Forces operations outside Japan. It allows Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense by changing the government’s interpretation of the Constitution.
It also enables the SDF to provide logistical support to the forces of the United States and other countries and engage in a wider range of United Nations peacekeeping operations.
１１本の法案を２本にまとめた法制には、憲法解釈の変更による集団的自衛権の行使容認、米軍など他国軍への兵站（へいたん）（後方支援）、国連平和維持活動（ＰＫＯ）の任務拡大など、幅広い自衛隊の海外活動が含まれる。
The Abe administration railroaded the broad security legislation through just one session of the Diet. Many observers say Abe was in a rush to get the legislation passed because he promised in his April 29 address to a Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress to “achieve” the legislative reform “by this coming summer.”
安倍政権はこれだけ広範な法制を、わずか１会期の国会審議で成立させた。背景に、首相自身が昨年４月に訪米中の議会演説で「（法案を）夏までに成就させる」と約束した対米公約があった、との見方が強い。
After the legislation passed the Diet, Abe said he would “make tenacious efforts to explain” it to the public. But he has failed to deliver on his promise.
法制の成立後、首相は「これから粘り強く説明を行っていきたい」と語ったが、実行されていない。
The Diet debate on related issues since then has been far from sufficient.
その後の国会審議も十分とは到底言えない。
CASTING A WIDE NET
■投網をかけるように
This situation represents a crisis of Japan’s constitutionalism, which means the government’s power is defined and limited by the Constitution. This extraordinary and dangerous situation must not be allowed to continue.
憲法が権力を縛る立憲主義の危機である。この異常事態を放置することはできない。
The “unconstitutional” legislation, not based on broad public consensus, should be rectified. It is necessary to sort out the content of the legislation so that at least the unconstitutional parts will be repealed. The Diet, especially the opposition camp, needs to play a vital role in this undertaking.
幅広い国民の合意を欠く「違憲」法制は正さねばならない。法制の中身を仕分けし、少なくとも違憲の部分は廃止する必要がある。国会、とりわけ野党が果たすべき役割は大きい。
The Abe administration has maintained that the legislation is constitutional because it only allows Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense in limited situations.
安倍政権は、集団的自衛権の行使容認は限定的で、だから合憲だと説明してきた。
On the other hand, the administration has continued giving equivocal answers at the Diet to questions about the limits to the exercise of this right by Japan in an apparent attempt for the government to secure as much discretion as possible in assessing situations.
一方で、政府の裁量をできるだけ広く残そうと、「限定」の幅についてあいまいな国会答弁を繰り返してきた。
This will allow the government in power to interpret the scope of the limits in any manner it chooses.
時の政権の判断で、いかようにも解釈できる余地が残されている。
The administration’s move to make it possible for Japan to engage in collective self-defense operations was prompted primarily by the challenge of countering the growing military power of China through enhancing the deterrence provided by Japan’s security alliance with the United States.
集団的自衛権を容認した眼目は、中国にいかに対抗し、抑止力を高めるかにある。
Here’s the idea behind the move. Japan needs to ensure that U.S. forces will maintain their presence in the Asia-Pacific region while compensating for the relative decline in U.S. military power by enhancing the SDF and expanding its security cooperation with other countries in the region.
米軍をアジア太平洋地域に引き留め、そのパワーが相対的に低下しつつある分は、自衛隊の強化や地域諸国との連携によって補う。そんな考え方だ。
The legislation is designed to allow the SDF to operate in wide areas outside Japan by eliminating a broad range of obstacles and impediments to the SDF’s joint operations with U.S. forces.
This approach can be likened to casting a wide net to catch as many fish in as wide an area as possible.
米軍との共同行動に支障を来さないよう、投網をかけるように幅広く、海外で自衛隊が動けるようにしておく。
This means the SDF will expand its joint military drills, information sharing and cooperation concerning military equipment with the forces of the United States and other countries. Such efforts will be made not just during security emergencies but in peacetime as well.
有事だけでなく平時から米軍など他国軍との共同訓練や情報共有、装備面での連携が進むことになる。
ARTICLE 9 AS BASIS FOR DIALOGUE
■９条を対話の基盤に
The problem is that the administration, to achieve its security policy goals, has relaxed the restrictions that the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution had imposed on the SDF’s overseas operations.
問題は、そのために自衛隊の海外活動に一定の歯止めをかけてきた「９条の縛り」を緩めてしまったことだ。
At the end of February, the Commission on the Future of the Alliance, a study group comprising Japanese and American experts including Richard Armitage, a former U.S. deputy secretary of state, released a report titled “The U.S.-Japan Alliance to 2030.”
２月末、アーミテージ元国務副長官ら日米の有識者らによる日米安全保障研究会が「２０３０年までの日米同盟」という報告書をまとめた。
Stressing the importance for Tokyo and Washington to have a coordinated China strategy, the report urged Japan to “have fully funded, modern and highly capable military forces” and called on the two countries to “at least coordinate, and if possible integrate, their policies and actions elsewhere in Asia and beyond.”
日米の対中戦略の共有が不可欠だと強調し、「十分な予算に支えられた軍事力」「アジアやより広い地域で日米の政策、行動を可能ならば統合する」ことを日本に求めた。
This is a clear call for integrating the two nations’ security policy development and execution in all aspects, including defense budgeting.
防衛予算の拡大をはじめ、あらゆる面で日米の一体化をめざす方向だ。
But the national interests of the United States don’t necessarily coincide exactly with those of Japan with regard not only to how to respond to China’s rise but also to other key issues.
だが、中国との関係に限らず、米国の利益と日本の利益は必ずしも一致しない。
The question facing Japan is if it can decline any strong security policy request from the United States, which has a history of launching misguided wars.
時に誤った戦争に踏み込む米国の強い要請を断れるのか。
Abe has said that Japan will make its own independent decisions as to whether it should exercise its right to collective self-defense. But will this be really possible for Japan when the effectiveness of Article 9 as a protection against the risk of becoming involved in overseas conflict has been seriously undermined?
集団的自衛権の行使について、首相は「（日本が）主体的に判断する」と答弁したが、９条という防波堤が揺らぐ今、本当にできるのか。
Japan should be well aware of the fact that the United States, while wary about China’s military buildup, has been working eagerly to build sturdy multiple channels of dialogue with the country.
留意すべきは、米国自身、中国を警戒しながらも重層的な対話のパイプ作りに腐心していることだ。
To protect its own peace, Japan should also pursue close dialogue and a broad range of cooperation with China.
日本も自らの平和を守るためには、中国との緊密な対話と幅広い協力が欠かせない。
The Abe administration, however, has been focusing its security policy efforts on bolstering Japan’s alliance with the United States, allowing erosion in the human interactions underpinning the bilateral ties with China.
それなのに日本は日米同盟の強化に傾斜し、日中関係の人的基盤は細るばかりだ。
Given Japan’s geographical proximity to China and the complicated and troubled history of their bilateral relations, the Japanese government needs to perform a delicate balancing act in dealing with its neighboring giant.
中国に近い地理的な特性や歴史の複雑さを思えば、その関係はより微妙なかじ取りが求められる。
Japan should restrain itself from getting embroiled in U.S. military actions and stick to its traditional strictly defensive security policy to avoid an arms race with China. The functions of Article 9 can, and should, serve as a foundation for Japan’s efforts to strike a proper balance between deterrence and dialogue.
米国の軍事行動とは一線を画し、専守防衛を貫くことで軍拡競争を避ける。憲法９条の機能こそ、抑止と対話の均衡を保つための基盤となる。
DIET HAS A VITAL ROLE TO PLAY
■問われる国会の役割
An Upper House election will be held this summer. Simultaneous polls of both chambers of the Diet appear to be in the cards.
夏に参院選がある。衆参同日選の可能性も指摘されている。
In a move with significant political implications, the Abe administration has decided to postpone until after the Upper House poll some important new steps based on the security legislation. They include expanding the scope of Japan’s peacekeeping missions to allow SDF personnel to come to the assistance of members of U.N. and private-sector organizations and other countries’ troops who have come under attack during such operations. The administration has also delayed the introduction of a bill to revise Japan’s Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement with the United States to expand the SDF’s logistic support for U.S. forces.
そんななか安倍政権は、平時の米艦防護やＰＫＯに派遣する自衛隊の「駆けつけ警護」、米軍への兵站を拡大する日米物品役務相互提供協定（ＡＣＳＡ）改定案の国会提出など、安保法制にもとづく新たな動きを参院選後に先送りしている。
The Abe administration is again concentrating its political energy on economic issues before a key election with a clear intention to shift the focus of its policy discourse to security topics after the poll. The administration adopted the same strategy for its initiatives to enact the state secrets protection law and the security legislation.
選挙前は「経済」を掲げ、選挙が終われば「安保」にかじを切る。特定秘密保護法も安保法制も同じパターンだった。
This time, too, the administration will try to push through the related measures all at once if the ruling camp is victorious in the election.
政権は今回も、選挙に勝てば一気に進めようとするだろう。
The Abe administration has taken a series of foreign and security policy measures aimed at concentrating power in the hands of the government. They include the enactment of the state secrets protection law and the creation of the National Security Council.
安倍政権は特定秘密保護法、国家安全保障会議（ＮＳＣ）の創設など、政府への権限を集中させる外交・安保施策を次々と打ち出してきた。
That has made it all the more important for the Diet to perform its function of checking the actions of the executive branch. But the Diet’s performance has been deeply disappointing.
だからこそ、国会のチェック機能が重要なのに、肝心の国会が心もとない。
The Diet has not even bothered to consider the joint opposition bill to repeal the security legislation or the counterproposals made by the opposition parties. This fact is a clear and undeniable sign that the Diet has become dysfunctional.
野党が共同で提出した安保法制の廃止法案や対案を審議すらしない現状が、国会の機能不全を物語る。
The opposition parties have a crucial mission to carry out. They need to expand electoral cooperation among themselves and strengthen their solidarity with citizens.
野党の使命は極めて重い。政党間の選挙協力を着実に進め、市民との連帯を広げる。
They also have to protect the nation’s constitutionalism and redress the “unconstitutional” legislation. The mission requires fresh and serious debate on the future of politics in this nation.
立憲主義を守り、「違憲」の法制を正す。それは、日本の政治のあり方を問い直す議論でもある。
EDITORIAL: Diet must debate constitutionality of new security legislation
（社説）安全保障法制の施行 「違憲」の法制、正す論戦を
The new national security legislation expanding the scope of Japan’s military operations took effect on March 29.
新たな安全保障法制がきょう施行された。
The ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, rammed the legislation through the Diet in September in the face of anxiety and opposition among many citizens and criticism by constitutional scholars that it is unconstitutional. The controversial set of laws is now in force.
昨年９月、多くの市民の不安と反対、そして憲法専門家らの「違憲」批判を押し切って安倍政権が強行成立させた法制が、効力を持つことになる。
The legislation, composed of two statutes incorporating the content of 11 bills, significantly expands the scope of Self-Defense Forces operations outside Japan. It allows Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense by changing the government’s interpretation of the Constitution.
It also enables the SDF to provide logistical support to the forces of the United States and other countries and engage in a wider range of United Nations peacekeeping operations.
１１本の法案を２本にまとめた法制には、憲法解釈の変更による集団的自衛権の行使容認、米軍など他国軍への兵站（へいたん）（後方支援）、国連平和維持活動（ＰＫＯ）の任務拡大など、幅広い自衛隊の海外活動が含まれる。
The Abe administration railroaded the broad security legislation through just one session of the Diet. Many observers say Abe was in a rush to get the legislation passed because he promised in his April 29 address to a Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress to “achieve” the legislative reform “by this coming summer.”
安倍政権はこれだけ広範な法制を、わずか１会期の国会審議で成立させた。背景に、首相自身が昨年４月に訪米中の議会演説で「（法案を）夏までに成就させる」と約束した対米公約があった、との見方が強い。
After the legislation passed the Diet, Abe said he would “make tenacious efforts to explain” it to the public. But he has failed to deliver on his promise.
法制の成立後、首相は「これから粘り強く説明を行っていきたい」と語ったが、実行されていない。
The Diet debate on related issues since then has been far from sufficient.
その後の国会審議も十分とは到底言えない。
CASTING A WIDE NET
■投網をかけるように
This situation represents a crisis of Japan’s constitutionalism, which means the government’s power is defined and limited by the Constitution. This extraordinary and dangerous situation must not be allowed to continue.
憲法が権力を縛る立憲主義の危機である。この異常事態を放置することはできない。
The “unconstitutional” legislation, not based on broad public consensus, should be rectified. It is necessary to sort out the content of the legislation so that at least the unconstitutional parts will be repealed. The Diet, especially the opposition camp, needs to play a vital role in this undertaking.
幅広い国民の合意を欠く「違憲」法制は正さねばならない。法制の中身を仕分けし、少なくとも違憲の部分は廃止する必要がある。国会、とりわけ野党が果たすべき役割は大きい。
The Abe administration has maintained that the legislation is constitutional because it only allows Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense in limited situations.
安倍政権は、集団的自衛権の行使容認は限定的で、だから合憲だと説明してきた。
On the other hand, the administration has continued giving equivocal answers at the Diet to questions about the limits to the exercise of this right by Japan in an apparent attempt for the government to secure as much discretion as possible in assessing situations.
一方で、政府の裁量をできるだけ広く残そうと、「限定」の幅についてあいまいな国会答弁を繰り返してきた。
This will allow the government in power to interpret the scope of the limits in any manner it chooses.
時の政権の判断で、いかようにも解釈できる余地が残されている。
The administration’s move to make it possible for Japan to engage in collective self-defense operations was prompted primarily by the challenge of countering the growing military power of China through enhancing the deterrence provided by Japan’s security alliance with the United States.
集団的自衛権を容認した眼目は、中国にいかに対抗し、抑止力を高めるかにある。
Here’s the idea behind the move. Japan needs to ensure that U.S. forces will maintain their presence in the Asia-Pacific region while compensating for the relative decline in U.S. military power by enhancing the SDF and expanding its security cooperation with other countries in the region.
米軍をアジア太平洋地域に引き留め、そのパワーが相対的に低下しつつある分は、自衛隊の強化や地域諸国との連携によって補う。そんな考え方だ。
The legislation is designed to allow the SDF to operate in wide areas outside Japan by eliminating a broad range of obstacles and impediments to the SDF’s joint operations with U.S. forces.
This approach can be likened to casting a wide net to catch as many fish in as wide an area as possible.
米軍との共同行動に支障を来さないよう、投網をかけるように幅広く、海外で自衛隊が動けるようにしておく。
This means the SDF will expand its joint military drills, information sharing and cooperation concerning military equipment with the forces of the United States and other countries. Such efforts will be made not just during security emergencies but in peacetime as well.
有事だけでなく平時から米軍など他国軍との共同訓練や情報共有、装備面での連携が進むことになる。
ARTICLE 9 AS BASIS FOR DIALOGUE
■９条を対話の基盤に
The problem is that the administration, to achieve its security policy goals, has relaxed the restrictions that the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution had imposed on the SDF’s overseas operations.
問題は、そのために自衛隊の海外活動に一定の歯止めをかけてきた「９条の縛り」を緩めてしまったことだ。
At the end of February, the Commission on the Future of the Alliance, a study group comprising Japanese and American experts including Richard Armitage, a former U.S. deputy secretary of state, released a report titled “The U.S.-Japan Alliance to 2030.”
２月末、アーミテージ元国務副長官ら日米の有識者らによる日米安全保障研究会が「２０３０年までの日米同盟」という報告書をまとめた。
Stressing the importance for Tokyo and Washington to have a coordinated China strategy, the report urged Japan to “have fully funded, modern and highly capable military forces” and called on the two countries to “at least coordinate, and if possible integrate, their policies and actions elsewhere in Asia and beyond.”
日米の対中戦略の共有が不可欠だと強調し、「十分な予算に支えられた軍事力」「アジアやより広い地域で日米の政策、行動を可能ならば統合する」ことを日本に求めた。
This is a clear call for integrating the two nations’ security policy development and execution in all aspects, including defense budgeting.
防衛予算の拡大をはじめ、あらゆる面で日米の一体化をめざす方向だ。
But the national interests of the United States don’t necessarily coincide exactly with those of Japan with regard not only to how to respond to China’s rise but also to other key issues.
だが、中国との関係に限らず、米国の利益と日本の利益は必ずしも一致しない。
The question facing Japan is if it can decline any strong security policy request from the United States, which has a history of launching misguided wars.
時に誤った戦争に踏み込む米国の強い要請を断れるのか。
Abe has said that Japan will make its own independent decisions as to whether it should exercise its right to collective self-defense. But will this be really possible for Japan when the effectiveness of Article 9 as a protection against the risk of becoming involved in overseas conflict has been seriously undermined?
集団的自衛権の行使について、首相は「（日本が）主体的に判断する」と答弁したが、９条という防波堤が揺らぐ今、本当にできるのか。
Japan should be well aware of the fact that the United States, while wary about China’s military buildup, has been working eagerly to build sturdy multiple channels of dialogue with the country.
留意すべきは、米国自身、中国を警戒しながらも重層的な対話のパイプ作りに腐心していることだ。
To protect its own peace, Japan should also pursue close dialogue and a broad range of cooperation with China.
日本も自らの平和を守るためには、中国との緊密な対話と幅広い協力が欠かせない。
The Abe administration, however, has been focusing its security policy efforts on bolstering Japan’s alliance with the United States, allowing erosion in the human interactions underpinning the bilateral ties with China.
それなのに日本は日米同盟の強化に傾斜し、日中関係の人的基盤は細るばかりだ。
Given Japan’s geographical proximity to China and the complicated and troubled history of their bilateral relations, the Japanese government needs to perform a delicate balancing act in dealing with its neighboring giant.
中国に近い地理的な特性や歴史の複雑さを思えば、その関係はより微妙なかじ取りが求められる。
Japan should restrain itself from getting embroiled in U.S. military actions and stick to its traditional strictly defensive security policy to avoid an arms race with China. The functions of Article 9 can, and should, serve as a foundation for Japan’s efforts to strike a proper balance between deterrence and dialogue.
米国の軍事行動とは一線を画し、専守防衛を貫くことで軍拡競争を避ける。憲法９条の機能こそ、抑止と対話の均衡を保つための基盤となる。
DIET HAS A VITAL ROLE TO PLAY
■問われる国会の役割
An Upper House election will be held this summer. Simultaneous polls of both chambers of the Diet appear to be in the cards.
夏に参院選がある。衆参同日選の可能性も指摘されている。
In a move with significant political implications, the Abe administration has decided to postpone until after the Upper House poll some important new steps based on the security legislation. They include expanding the scope of Japan’s peacekeeping missions to allow SDF personnel to come to the assistance of members of U.N. and private-sector organizations and other countries’ troops who have come under attack during such operations. The administration has also delayed the introduction of a bill to revise Japan’s Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement with the United States to expand the SDF’s logistic support for U.S. forces.
そんななか安倍政権は、平時の米艦防護やＰＫＯに派遣する自衛隊の「駆けつけ警護」、米軍への兵站を拡大する日米物品役務相互提供協定（ＡＣＳＡ）改定案の国会提出など、安保法制にもとづく新たな動きを参院選後に先送りしている。
The Abe administration is again concentrating its political energy on economic issues before a key election with a clear intention to shift the focus of its policy discourse to security topics after the poll. The administration adopted the same strategy for its initiatives to enact the state secrets protection law and the security legislation.
選挙前は「経済」を掲げ、選挙が終われば「安保」にかじを切る。特定秘密保護法も安保法制も同じパターンだった。
This time, too, the administration will try to push through the related measures all at once if the ruling camp is victorious in the election.
政権は今回も、選挙に勝てば一気に進めようとするだろう。
The Abe administration has taken a series of foreign and security policy measures aimed at concentrating power in the hands of the government. They include the enactment of the state secrets protection law and the creation of the National Security Council.
安倍政権は特定秘密保護法、国家安全保障会議（ＮＳＣ）の創設など、政府への権限を集中させる外交・安保施策を次々と打ち出してきた。
That has made it all the more important for the Diet to perform its function of checking the actions of the executive branch. But the Diet’s performance has been deeply disappointing.
だからこそ、国会のチェック機能が重要なのに、肝心の国会が心もとない。
The Diet has not even bothered to consider the joint opposition bill to repeal the security legislation or the counterproposals made by the opposition parties. This fact is a clear and undeniable sign that the Diet has become dysfunctional.
野党が共同で提出した安保法制の廃止法案や対案を審議すらしない現状が、国会の機能不全を物語る。
The opposition parties have a crucial mission to carry out. They need to expand electoral cooperation among themselves and strengthen their solidarity with citizens.
野党の使命は極めて重い。政党間の選挙協力を着実に進め、市民との連帯を広げる。
They also have to protect the nation’s constitutionalism and redress the “unconstitutional” legislation. The mission requires fresh and serious debate on the future of politics in this nation.
立憲主義を守り、「違憲」の法制を正す。それは、日本の政治のあり方を問い直す議論でもある。
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