Japan's government is pressing ahead with divisive plans to loosen restrictions on its military.

A new interpretation of Japan's pacifist constitution is set to be approved by the cabinet on Tuesday.

Under Japan's current post-war constitution, which was written under US direction, Japan's military is strictly limited to defense of the nation's sovereign territory.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was hoping to change the constitution to allow Japanese troops to be deployed overseas to assist the country's allies.

Liu Jiangyong is vice director of the Modern International Relations Institute at Tsinghua University.

"Currently, Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has been advocating the constitutional shift, does not have enough seats in the cabinet to amend the constitution. So they are trying to allow 'collective self-defense' by reinterpreting the policy."

Liu adds that the move has already trampled the constitution.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner the New Komeito Party have reached an agreement on a major shift.

After 10 rounds of talks, Abe's Party has largely pressured its centrist partner into a compromise, though New Komeito initially opposed the idea.

Professor Liu says this marks a further deviation to the right by Japan's government and the move will severely undermine Sino-Japan relations.

"Next, Japan's Defense Minister is going to the US, and discuss with the US on how to revise the so called US-Japan defense guidelines. In fact it's seeking cooperation in military actions against China in the future, as Japan can only cooperate with the US when the ban on collective self defense is lifted."

Meantime, the potential change is raising widespread public anger in Japan that erupted into a fiery suicide bid by a middle-aged protestor.

The support rate for Abe's Cabinet fell to 45 percent, the lowest since Abe took office in December 2012.

However, Liu says Abe can afford to go ahead with some unpopular measures without endangering the stability of his government.

The professor notes that given the fact that the LDP presided over by Shinzo Abe now has a decisive role in the Japanese parliament, Abe is determined to push forward with the amendment despite opposing opinions both in Japan and outside.

"Under such a circumstance, no matter how the Japanese media or the general public are against the amendment, the intention for Abe, using the ruling position of his party in both the houses of representative and the senate, to implement his political ambition under the Rightist trend in the political arena is irreversible."

A recent opinion poll by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun indicates that over half of the respondents are opposed to lifting the ban on collective defense by any means.

67-percent of the respondents said no to reinterpreting Japan's anti-war constitution.