AKIPRESS.COM - Japan's cabinet is poised on Tuesday to end a ban that has kept the military from fighting abroad since World War Two, a major shift away from post-war pacifism and a victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but a move that will rile China.

The move, seen by some as the biggest shift in defence policy since Japan set up its post-war armed forces exactly 60 years ago, would end a ban on exercising "collective self-defence" or aiding a friendly country under attack.

It would also relax limits on activities in UN-led peacekeeping operations and "grey zone" incidents that fall short of full-scale war, according to a draft cabinet resolution.

"No matter how Abe glosses over it, he is dallying with the spectre of war through a cheap scam but at the dear cost of the souls not only of his own but also of the entire Japanese nation," said an English language commentary by China's official Xinhua news agency.