The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reversed the nation’s post-World War II pacifism and rubber-stamped Abe’s plan to allow the military to engage in “collective self-defense” – that is, to aid allied nations under attack from a common enemy.

The plan is to allow Japan to use its large and technologically-advanced military in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, such as coming to the aid of an American ship under fire or shooting down a ballistic missile aimed at the United States.  The United States welcomed the change.  But elsewhere, the move is being treated with a mix of scorn and caution.

“Beijing opposes Japan’s act of hyping the China threat,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, who added that the new policy “raises doubts about Japan’s approach to peaceful development.”  The two nations are engaged in a territorial dispute over some islands near Okinawa, and their respective naval forces and fighter jets have played car-and-mouse games in the East China Sea around those islands.

In Seoul, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said, “The South Korean government views it as a significant revision to the defense and security policy under the postwar peace constitution, and is paying a sharp attention to it.”  South Korea suffered greatly at the hands of Japanese militarism during World War II, and the scars have yet to heel.  Among the protesters outside the Japanese embassy were some of the Korean women who were forced to work as sex slaves for Imperial Japanese occupiers.

But there is no consensus in Japan, either.  There’ve been large demonstrations against reinterpreting the constitution to Abe’s desires.  One man went as far as to set himself on fire at the world’s busiest train station in Tokyo in protest.

“Most Japanese, over two-thirds, feel that this peace constitution is part of their identity,” said Jeff Kingston of the Asian Studies at Temple University Japan in Tokyo.

“For 70 years, Japan has kept its peace with its constitution,” said 67-year-old protester Toshio Ban.  “What are we to do with that stupid man trying to trample over the precious constitution?”

The change won’t come until lawmakers return to work in the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn.  There will be a dozen legislative bills to set the parameters and enable the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to engage in collective self-defense missions.  Abe will need two-thirds majorities in order for them to pass.