Legal groups in Japan held a study session in Tokyo on Monday, where participants voiced concern over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s drive for constitutional revision and military expansion.
Participants urged upholding Japan’s pacifist constitution and opposed Takaichi’s policies of constitutional revision, rising defense spending, and expanded military deployments.
"I believe the constitution should not be amended. If the constitution is to be amended in any case, it should mean to benefit the nation and its people. However, the government now wants to change the constitution to one that makes it easier for them to control the people, therefore I completely oppose it," said a participant at the meeting.
"Seeing the Takaichi government's significant increase in defense spending and its continuous deployment of missiles across Japan, I truly believe they are genuinely preparing for war. These moves make me feel that Japan seems to be retracing the path it took when it started wars before," said another participant.
Participants also expressed their desire to avoid war and their hope that Japan could maintain friendly relations with its neighboring countries.
"My grandfather lived through war, so I really don't want to experience the same thing again. And I hope that [Japan] is able to maintain friendly relations with neighboring countries," said a young participant.
Japan legal groups warn against defense buildup, constitutional changes
Shangzhi County in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has stepped up emergency responses as Typhoon Bavi, the ninth typhoon of the year, brings continuous rainfall, pushing local rivers above warning levels.
Mayi River in the county, a tributary of the Songhua River, experienced its first flooding this year at 2:36 on Monday, and the flood peak passed through the county about seven hours later.
Other rivers in the county have also recorded varying degrees of water level rise. In response, local authorities have reinforced at-risk sections by placing sandbags to build temporary dikes and reduce the risk of overflow.
"If there is no heavy rain or widespread precipitation, this area is almost dry. We have stocked more than 36,000 sandbags at least half a month in advance under our contingency plan," said Wang Yuancheng, a local official.
As of 8:00 Tuesday, the water level at the Shangzhi Hydrological Station on the Mayi River had fallen to 183.67 meters, down 1.43 meters from the peak flood level of 185.10 meters, returning to below the warning level.
Typhoon Bavi landed on the coast of east China's Zhejiang Province at around 23:20 Saturday, according to the Zhejiang provincial meteorological observatory.
The typhoon, with the maximum wind force at its center reaching 40 meters per second when landing, first churned ashore at Yuhuan City, a county-level city administered by the city of Taizhou, before making a second landfall in Yueqing City under the city of Wenzhou at around midnight.
After landfall, the typhoon is expected to continue moving northwestward while weakening.
Northeast China county braces for Typhoon Bavi, flood
