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Significance
On June 24, the National Security Council effectively withdrew the Aegis Ashore plan. Japan’s decision has important implications for its own national defence posture, the Japan-US alliance and the regional security situation.
Impacts
Salvaging the Aegis Ashore plan in some form is possible but unlikely; increasing Japan’s Aegis destroyer fleet is more likely.
The capability to strike Chinese territory pre-emptively will exacerbate Beijing’s fears of Japanese militarism.
Moves towards pre-emptive strike capability could reinvigorate Abe’s campaign to revise Japan’s ‘pacifist’ constitution.
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2020
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