Japan needs to develop offensive military capacity: Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday that Japan needed to study the possibility to develop offensive military capacity so as to attack enemy bases.

Abe made the remarks when he responded to proposals aimed at strengthening the country's military capabilities, submitted by lawmakers from his Liberal Democratic Party, Xinhua reported.

Abe said the matter was an important one and indicated that it would be in the discussion of compiling a governmental long-term defense programme to be outlined by the end of this year.

The proposals referred to promote Japan's capability to defend its islands, touching on the necessity to equip the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) with US MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft to create amphibious forces.

The proposals also called for approving Japan to exercise collective self-defense right, the report said.

Abe, a well-known hawkish politician that returned to power in December, is eager to revise the country's war-renouncing constitution so as to make the SDF a full national army.

This has raised concerns and worries from neighbouring countries.