China worries about Japan's move to amend constitution

Japan's Asian neighbors are concerned about its move to amend its constitution due to historical reasons, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman stated. Liu Weimin made the remarks at a news briefing amid concerns that the Japanese government was considering to resume the country's right to exercise "collective self-defense", China's (Xinhua) news agency reported. "We believe that it's in line with Japan's own fundamental interests as well as conducive to peace, stability and development of the region that Japan adheres to the path of peaceful development," Liu said. On Thursday, the Republic of Korea said it was closely watching Japan's move to possibly end a decades-old withdrawal of collective self-defense. Media reports said a Japanese government panel had proposed to reinterpret its pacifist constitution to recognize the country's right to exercise collective self-defense. The panel demanded that Japan should have the right to self defence when the country or its allies are under attack, which reports said would be a violation of the country's current constitution.