Abe's policy shift against historical trend: Japanese expert

BEIJING - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies threaten the peace of Japan and lead the country down a dangerous path, a Japanese expert warned Saturday.

Nakayama Toshio with the Clausewitz Society of Japan made the remarks at an international conference held in Beijing to look back on lessons from World Wars I and II ahead of the 100th anniversary of WWI.

The Abe Administration's strategy to corner China by aligning with other nations is not only a comeback under the wing of the United States' hegemony, but also a demonstration of the Japan-US alliance in the 21st century, an alliance that means more than the resurgence of Japanese militarism, he said.

This month Abe's cabinet dropped a ban on exercising Japan's right of "collective self-defence," which refers to aiding an ally country under attack. The prohibition has prevented the Japanese military from fighting overseas since its unconditional surrender in 1945.

The Japanese expert warned of the chance of a third world war, saying the Cold War structure has survived in Asia due to the United States' incomplete occupation policy on Japan.

Although the possibility of another world war is very slim, people of the world should remain on alert, he added.

More than 200 scholars from countries including the United States, Russia, Serbia, Germany and China attended the conference.