IntelligenceBrief July 10, 2013 | Page 3

protests last month . Hundreds of people were forced to leave before the start of the protest organized by the Taksim Solidarity group of political parties and nongovernmental organizations opposed to the redevelopment . Police then intervened with water cannons to break up a crowd of several thousand marching along Istanbul ' s main pedestrian shopping street towards Taksim Square where the park is located . Clashes between police and protesters continued late into the evening in the Taksim area , with police firing repeated volleys of teargas at small pockets of demonstrators who fled down side streets . Shortly before midnight the park was once again opened to the public , even as isolated clashes continued on nearby streets . Police detained more than 80 people . One seriously wounded person suffered a brain hemorrhage and was being treated at a nearby hospital .
Asia Japan faces increasingly serious threats to its security from China and North Korea , a defense ministry report said and government politicians called for the military to beef up its ability to respond to such threats . The report was likely to prompt a sharp response from Beijing , whose ties with Tokyo are strained by a territorial row and remarks by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggesting he wants to cast Japan ' s wartime history in a less apologetic tone . " There are various issues and destabilizing factors in the security environment surrounding Japan , some of which are becoming increasingly tangible , acute and serious ," the annual Japan defense white paper said . " China has attempted to change the status quo by force based on its own assertion , which is incompatible with the existing order of international law ." Abe returned to power for a rare second term after his ruling bloc won a general election late last year , promising to revive the economy and strengthen Japan ' s defenses . He also wants to revise the post-World War Two pacifist constitution to legitimize the military , although winning support for contentious revisions is likely to take time . Japan is already bolstering its islands ' defense and this year raised its defense budget for the first time in 11 years . The military is conducting joint drills with the United States , its main security ally , and fortifying defenses against missile attacks , while the government is reviewing its mid-term defense policy . Japan plans to draw up a new defense plan by December , and Abe ' s Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP ) last month submitted to the government recommendations that included looking into acquiring the capability to attack enemy targets . Any sign that Japan is moving to obtain such capabilities could upset China and South Korea , where resentment against Japan ' s wartime aggression and colonization runs deep . The LDP also recommended that , in order to boost the defense of remote islands , the military should set up an amphibious Marines division equipped with tilt-rotor aircraft like the V-22 Osprey . Abe , whose LDP is expected to cement its grip on power in this month ' s upper house election , also wants to revise an interpretation of the constitution that bans using the right of collective self-defense , or aiding an ally under attack . A panel
3