The Japan Times : 20 April 2015
Under the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan is preparing to expand the scope of activities the Self-Defense Forces can engage in by passing a package of security bills being drafted and new defense guidelines with the United States that will allow its troops to help an ally under attack.
Later this month, Japan and the United States will revise the bilateral defense cooperation guidelines, which U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Christine Wormuth claims will take the alliance to “the next level.”
Experts say the move is in response to the changing East Asian security climate, marked by the rise of China and a relative drop in the U.S. military’s regional presence, though Washington has asked for a more robust SDF.
The decision to enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, long banned by the war-renouncing Constitution, will bring Japan “closer to being the equal partner of the United States under the alliance,” said former Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto.
Under the bilateral security treaty, the United States must protect Japan, while Tokyo’s obligations are limited to the provision of facilities and areas for use by U.S. forces, and joint responses to armed attacks in Japanese territories.
Due to its one-sided nature, critics, particularly those in the U.S., say the treaty gives Japan a “free ride,” notes Morimoto, the first nonpolitician to serve as defense chief.
Fully aware of the issue, Japan has for decades worked to repay the United States. Tokyo provides massive financial assistance to help cover the costs of U.S. bases in the country, and the SDF buys a many U.S.-made weapons.
This, however, “has not been enough to eliminate the one-sidedness,” Morimoto claims.
At the time of the first Gulf War in the early 1990s, Washington asked Tokyo to dispatch the SDF for support. But Japan refrained from any personnel contribution, limiting its assistance to financial support.
“The United States expressed disappointment, asking, ‘Why won’t the SDF come?’ ” recounts a Foreign Ministry official who was at the Japanese Embassy in Washington at the time.
The official stressed that it is essential to expand the roles the SDF is allowed to play to strengthen the alliance.
The U.S. has been consistent in its request for greater contributions from the SDF. Morimoto says Washington “repeatedly asked Japan to resolve the issue of collective self-defense” during his six-month stint as defense chief until December 2012 under the Democratic Party of Japan administration.
The planned security legislation will enable the SDF and the U.S. military to jointly use force if three conditions for collective self-defense are satisfied. The requirements were set last year.
Also planned is a permanent law that would allow Japan to more quickly send SDF troops overseas to provide logistic support to the U.S. and for a limited number of other operations.
To date, Japan has drafted and enacted an ad hoc law each time it has sent the SDF overseas, including when troops were dispatched to Iraq for reconstruction and other assistance purposes in the 2000s.
“Ad hoc laws take time to enact,” says Hideaki Kaneda, former commander of the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Fleet Escort Force. “A permanent law will allow (the SDF) to provide education and training in preparations for possible rapid dispatches.”
Under the current system, Morimoto says, the ad hoc laws have often frustrated the U.S. since they delay SDF dispatches and come later than similar contributions by other nations.
Under the envisioned permanent law, the SDF would engage in assistance activities outside the areas where “combat activities are actually being conducted.” The government is also expected to lift a ban on the SDF’s provision of ammunition to foreign forces.
Abe has repeatedly said there will be no change in the nation’s status as a peaceful nation. But some opposition lawmakers remain skeptical.
The security legislation “will lead to unlimited expansion of (Japanese) military assistance for U.S.-initiated wars,” Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii says. “It is war legislation, designed to let Japan join conflicts by exercising the right to collective self-defense.”
Analysts and officials point to China’s military buildup as a rationale for Abe’s security efforts.
U.S. government and military officials, including David Shear, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, have expressed their hopes the SDF and the U.S. military will carry out joint warning and surveillance activities in the South China Sea, where China’s presence is increasing.
Presently, the SDF does not engage in any such activity in the South China Sea.
But at an April 2 news conference, Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of staff at the SDF’s Joint Staff, emphasized the importance of the South China Sea, home to sea lanes crucial to Japan.
Where the SDF should conduct warning and surveillance operations is determined “depending on the security environment and needs of the time,” Kawano says, indicating his positive view on possible SDF activities in the area.
Sino-Japanese relations have only just begun to improve after hitting historic lows. Tensions still remain strong over history issues and the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are also claimed by China.
Under the current situation, joint warning and surveillance activities between Japan and the United States in the South China Sea could provoke strong reactions from Beijing.
Former Defense Ministry official Kyoji Yanagisawa, who has also served as assistant chief Cabinet secretary, says that such joint operations would clearly show that Japan is helping with “moves to contain China.”
“We must fully recognize the risk of Japan becoming a target of (Chinese) attacks,” Yanagisawa, however, warns.
While making strenuous efforts to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance, Abe’s government has made little headway in improving the country’s relations with both China and South Korea.
“His foreign policy has few features other than its reliance on the United States,” says lawyer Sayo Saruta, director of a foreign policy think tank in Tokyo. “I can’t see what he wants to achieve by enabling Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense.”
Under the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan is preparing to expand the scope of activities the Self-Defense Forces can engage in by passing a package of security bills being drafted and new defense guidelines with the United States that will allow its troops to help an ally under attack.
Later this month, Japan and the United States will revise the bilateral defense cooperation guidelines, which U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Christine Wormuth claims will take the alliance to “the next level.”
Experts say the move is in response to the changing East Asian security climate, marked by the rise of China and a relative drop in the U.S. military’s regional presence, though Washington has asked for a more robust SDF.
The decision to enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense, long banned by the war-renouncing Constitution, will bring Japan “closer to being the equal partner of the United States under the alliance,” said former Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto.
Under the bilateral security treaty, the United States must protect Japan, while Tokyo’s obligations are limited to the provision of facilities and areas for use by U.S. forces, and joint responses to armed attacks in Japanese territories.
Due to its one-sided nature, critics, particularly those in the U.S., say the treaty gives Japan a “free ride,” notes Morimoto, the first nonpolitician to serve as defense chief.
Fully aware of the issue, Japan has for decades worked to repay the United States. Tokyo provides massive financial assistance to help cover the costs of U.S. bases in the country, and the SDF buys a many U.S.-made weapons.
This, however, “has not been enough to eliminate the one-sidedness,” Morimoto claims.
At the time of the first Gulf War in the early 1990s, Washington asked Tokyo to dispatch the SDF for support. But Japan refrained from any personnel contribution, limiting its assistance to financial support.
“The United States expressed disappointment, asking, ‘Why won’t the SDF come?’ ” recounts a Foreign Ministry official who was at the Japanese Embassy in Washington at the time.
The official stressed that it is essential to expand the roles the SDF is allowed to play to strengthen the alliance.
The U.S. has been consistent in its request for greater contributions from the SDF. Morimoto says Washington “repeatedly asked Japan to resolve the issue of collective self-defense” during his six-month stint as defense chief until December 2012 under the Democratic Party of Japan administration.
The planned security legislation will enable the SDF and the U.S. military to jointly use force if three conditions for collective self-defense are satisfied. The requirements were set last year.
Also planned is a permanent law that would allow Japan to more quickly send SDF troops overseas to provide logistic support to the U.S. and for a limited number of other operations.
To date, Japan has drafted and enacted an ad hoc law each time it has sent the SDF overseas, including when troops were dispatched to Iraq for reconstruction and other assistance purposes in the 2000s.
“Ad hoc laws take time to enact,” says Hideaki Kaneda, former commander of the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Fleet Escort Force. “A permanent law will allow (the SDF) to provide education and training in preparations for possible rapid dispatches.”
Under the current system, Morimoto says, the ad hoc laws have often frustrated the U.S. since they delay SDF dispatches and come later than similar contributions by other nations.
Under the envisioned permanent law, the SDF would engage in assistance activities outside the areas where “combat activities are actually being conducted.” The government is also expected to lift a ban on the SDF’s provision of ammunition to foreign forces.
Abe has repeatedly said there will be no change in the nation’s status as a peaceful nation. But some opposition lawmakers remain skeptical.
The security legislation “will lead to unlimited expansion of (Japanese) military assistance for U.S.-initiated wars,” Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii says. “It is war legislation, designed to let Japan join conflicts by exercising the right to collective self-defense.”
Analysts and officials point to China’s military buildup as a rationale for Abe’s security efforts.
U.S. government and military officials, including David Shear, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, have expressed their hopes the SDF and the U.S. military will carry out joint warning and surveillance activities in the South China Sea, where China’s presence is increasing.
Presently, the SDF does not engage in any such activity in the South China Sea.
But at an April 2 news conference, Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of staff at the SDF’s Joint Staff, emphasized the importance of the South China Sea, home to sea lanes crucial to Japan.
Where the SDF should conduct warning and surveillance operations is determined “depending on the security environment and needs of the time,” Kawano says, indicating his positive view on possible SDF activities in the area.
Sino-Japanese relations have only just begun to improve after hitting historic lows. Tensions still remain strong over history issues and the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are also claimed by China.
Under the current situation, joint warning and surveillance activities between Japan and the United States in the South China Sea could provoke strong reactions from Beijing.
Former Defense Ministry official Kyoji Yanagisawa, who has also served as assistant chief Cabinet secretary, says that such joint operations would clearly show that Japan is helping with “moves to contain China.”
“We must fully recognize the risk of Japan becoming a target of (Chinese) attacks,” Yanagisawa, however, warns.
While making strenuous efforts to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance, Abe’s government has made little headway in improving the country’s relations with both China and South Korea.
“His foreign policy has few features other than its reliance on the United States,” says lawyer Sayo Saruta, director of a foreign policy think tank in Tokyo. “I can’t see what he wants to achieve by enabling Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense.”
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