Asia-Pacific, Global, Global Geopolitics, Headlines

POLITICS-JAPAN: Compromise Possible on Role in Afghanistan, Iraq

Catherine Makino

TOKYO, Nov 14 2007 (IPS) - Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda cleared his first major test when the lower house of the parliament (Diet) passed a contentious bill, this week, allowing Japanese vessels to resume refuelling United States and coalition warships engaged in the war on terror.

Japan halted the six-year refuelling mission when the original bill allowing it expired on Nov.1. Tuesday’s approval comes ahead of Fukuda’s visit to Washington, later this week, when he is certain to reaffirm Japan’s support for U.S. foreign policy. It is his first overseas mission since taking office in September.

Dispute between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) over continuance of the refuelling operations led to the resignation of Fukuda’s predecessor in office, the deeply conservative Shinzo Abe.

Japan has a “deep rooted and wide-ranging” relationship with the U.S., Fukuda told reporters Monday. He warned that if the refuelling mission was not continued “it would leave Japan sidelined in the fight against global terrorism.’’

However, the proposed legislation is destined to be defeated in the upper house which is dominated by the DP that is already drafting an alternate ‘bill’ that focuses on providing humanitarian assistance to help rebuild Afghanistan.

The DP plan, according to the outline, lays emphasis on civilian role which “would assist in restoring farmland, providing medical care and food assistance.’’

Significantly, although the DP plan visualises deployment of self-defence forces (SDF) to areas in Afghanistan where ceasefire agreements have been reached or in regions that are safe for civilians it allows for the use of weapons in cases where ‘’the unavoidable need arises to deter resistance to implementation of activities.’’ Currently, the SDF can only use weapons to protect themselves or anyone who is under their protection.

In the same spirit, DP leader Ichiro Ozawa has called for a permanent law that would deal with national security policy – offering a compromise with the ruling party. Indication that there was room for a deal was visible when Fukuda and Ozawa held discussions two weeks ago.

Ozawa’s permanent law has pluses and minuses, according to Weston Konishi, Hitachi international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Japan. “On the one hand, it would prohibit SDF overseas deployments, unless authorised by the U.N. On the other hand, each overseas operation of the SDF would no longer need to be approved in the Diet on an ad hoc basis,’’ Konishi told IPS. “This proposal is consistent with Ozawa’s principles on SDF deployments, and is probably something that many LDP members could live with.” There is another complication though. The DP introduced a bill this week that would nullify previous legislation allowing the SDF to provide airlift support in Iraq. The opposition party is hoping that this new bill will be debated in the upper house at the expense of debate over the lower house bill that was just passed. If this tactic works, the refuelling mission, or anti-terror bill as it is referred to, will not be approved during the current Diet session, which ends on Dec.15.

“The new bill is a clever way for the DP to kill the anti-terror legislation without having to vote it down during this Diet session,” Konishi says. “The question is whether voters will continue to accept these tactics or whether they will at some point punish the DP for being overly obstructionist.”

The results of a poll taken by public broadcaster NHK on Monday showed that 45 percent of the respondents wanted the two main parties to cooperate on policy, while 37 percent wanted early elections to resolve the impasse.

Meanwhile, U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates was in Tokyo last week to try and persuade Fukuda to resume refuelling operations as soon as possible. “I would like to see Japan play a role on the national stage that befits its role as one of the world’s greatest and wealthiest democracies,” he said at a press conference on Nov. 8. “There are a number of international peacekeeping and other activities where we believe Japan could play a constructive role.’’

‘’It is worth remembering that Japan imports 80 percent of its oil from the Gulf to power its economy,’’ said Gates.

Japan’s defence minister Shigeru Ishiba said it was crucial for the country to reach a compromise on resuming the refuelling mission because, if the suspension continued, ‘’our posture will be deemed as more negative regarding the war on terror.’’

The relationship between the two countries has already been damaged, according to Konishi. “Washington was certainly not pleased that the Japanese refuelling mission in the Indian Ocean was called off,’’ he said.

‘’However, the current turn of events is not likely to lead to a significant rupture in the bilateral alliance. Japan’s contributions in the Indian Ocean were appreciated by Washington, but were not critical to the overall mission of the coalition of the willing,’’ Konishi said.