Japan's 'active pacifism' raises concerns, criticism

Experts fear Tokyo's proposal is an attempt to gain offensive capability

Veteran Chinese experts and military officers challenged the "active pacifism" recently pushed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, saying Beijing welcomes true pacifism, but in this case it appears there may be other intentions.

"The idea of active pacifism is a major change in Japan's defense visions. It will also highly likely be realized by revising the law, a situation that has never happened in Japan since the war," Li Wei, director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said at the Beijing-Tokyo Forum over the weekend.