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The Japanese government formally upgraded its Defense Agency to a full ministry yesterday with a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and new Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma.

The move is in line with Abe's efforts to give the military a greater profile.

The upgrading of the Defense Agency, formerly under the Cabinet Office, comes amid growing international concern over Japan renouncing its post-World War II pacifism.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao yesterday expressed hope that Japan would stick to the path of peaceful development.

"We hope that, regardless of governmental structural changes, Japan continues on the road of peaceful development," Liu told a regular news briefing.

At a formal ceremony yesterday morning, Japanese Defense Agency chief Fumio Kyuma was named defense minister. Abe and Kyuma marked the occasion by reviewing a Japanese honor guard outside the new ministry.

China hopes Japan would continue to develop in the peaceful way, said Liu Jianchao, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Tuesday.

A bill to upgrade the Defense Agency was passed by the Lower House in late November and the Upper House in mid-December.

Overseas activities like peacekeeping, disaster relief and other international operations will now be undertaken by the Self-Defense Forces (SDF).

Some critics have argued that giving the military greater status violates the country's 1947 US-drafted constitution, which foreswears Japan from using force to settle international disputes.

The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Mizuho Fukushima, criticized the move, saying it would enable Japan to send troops abroad to support US military efforts, the Jiji Press news agency reported.

"This could be a significant turning point in our post-war period," Fukushima said.

But Kyuma said: "The security situation surrounding Japan remains severe", referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's missile test launches in July and its first nuclear test in October.

Japan has one of the world's biggest military budgets 4.81 trillion yen ($41.6 billion) a year.

The upgrading of the Defense Agency is part of a strategy the Japanese government is pursuing to revise its constitution, said Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of international relations at the China Institute of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.

"The change demonstrates Japan is trying to make substantial efforts to remove the present restraints in intervening in international affairs," Zhou told China Daily.

The Defense Agency was established in 1954 and its role has been restricted by the war-renouncing constitution.

Zhou expressed reservations over the change of status, describing it as a step toward the country becoming a military power.

"This will certainly have a big impact on Japan's military development," Zhou said. "It will unavoidably turn into a military power."

The Defense Ministry's power will be now bolstered, particularly by the increase in military spending, said Professor Liu Jiangyong of international studies at the Tsinghua University.

"It will have less restrictions in expanding its military power," he said.

Agencies contributed to the story

(China Daily 01/10/2007 page2)