Junichiro Koizumi wobbles over military help
Sep 20th 2001
THE prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, at first sounded reassuring. Japan, he said, stands firmly beside the United States in the wake of the attacks in New York and Washington. All too soon, however, Mr Koizumi began to look anything but firm. Direct participation by Japanese forces in any American-led military response, Mr Koizumi soon made clear, would be impossible. Even his suggestion that Japan should provide “rear area” help with supplies and logistics quickly sank into the morass of consensus decision-making.
A hurried, late-night press conference on September 19th was supposed to set the record straight. Along with aid for refugees and financial help for Pakistan and India, Mr Koizumi took the first big gamble of his five-month administration and promised controversial logistical support as well. Now, he must deliver.
Mr Koizumi is desperate to do whatever he can to show support for the United States, whose warmth towards Japan had already cooled amid signs that Japan's resolve to introduce urgent financial reforms was fading. Japan also fears another debacle like that of 1991, when it dithered about its contribution to the allies in the Gulf war, sent a huge cheque instead of people, and got no thanks in return.
A security treaty, signed in 1960, obliges America to defend Japan from attack. But Japan's war-renouncing constitution, drafted with American help in 1947, makes any show of military reciprocity fraught with difficulties. Japan does maintain well-equipped armed forces, but on the basis that these forces are for self-defence only. The suffering inflicted by Japan on its neighbours during the second world war makes any suggestion of an international role for Japanese troops controversial, no matter how slight that role may seem to foreigners outside Asia.
The United States has been pressing Japan to interpret its constitution to allow its forces to come to its ally's defence. In 1999 the government approved guidelines allowing the “self-defence” forces to provide logistical support for the Americans in an emergency “in areas surrounding Japan”. Gen Nakatani, the young turk whom Mr Koizumi has put in charge of the Defence Agency, believes the government could work within these guidelines, even if the theatre of war were Afghanistan.
But older heads are counselling caution. Yasuo Fukuda, the chief cabinet secretary, sometimes called the real power behind Mr Koizumi's administration, says that treating Afghanistan as a neighbouring country would be too big a stretch. So a new set of guidelines may be needed, though the government has not yet stated whether it will legislate for these or not.
Mr Koizumi faces powerful opponents of new legislation within his own party. His main coalition partner, New Komeito, has a strong pacifist complexion. Some small opposition parties, such as the Social Democrats and the Communists, implacably oppose any expansion of the armed forces' role. Yet there is almost certainly a large majority in parliament available to Mr Koizumi should he press ahead. The real question, like the one that hovers over Mr Koizumi's financial reforms, is whether he can abandon the traditional consensus system and show leadership
Sep 20th 2001
THE prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, at first sounded reassuring. Japan, he said, stands firmly beside the United States in the wake of the attacks in New York and Washington. All too soon, however, Mr Koizumi began to look anything but firm. Direct participation by Japanese forces in any American-led military response, Mr Koizumi soon made clear, would be impossible. Even his suggestion that Japan should provide “rear area” help with supplies and logistics quickly sank into the morass of consensus decision-making.
A hurried, late-night press conference on September 19th was supposed to set the record straight. Along with aid for refugees and financial help for Pakistan and India, Mr Koizumi took the first big gamble of his five-month administration and promised controversial logistical support as well. Now, he must deliver.
Mr Koizumi is desperate to do whatever he can to show support for the United States, whose warmth towards Japan had already cooled amid signs that Japan's resolve to introduce urgent financial reforms was fading. Japan also fears another debacle like that of 1991, when it dithered about its contribution to the allies in the Gulf war, sent a huge cheque instead of people, and got no thanks in return.
A security treaty, signed in 1960, obliges America to defend Japan from attack. But Japan's war-renouncing constitution, drafted with American help in 1947, makes any show of military reciprocity fraught with difficulties. Japan does maintain well-equipped armed forces, but on the basis that these forces are for self-defence only. The suffering inflicted by Japan on its neighbours during the second world war makes any suggestion of an international role for Japanese troops controversial, no matter how slight that role may seem to foreigners outside Asia.
The United States has been pressing Japan to interpret its constitution to allow its forces to come to its ally's defence. In 1999 the government approved guidelines allowing the “self-defence” forces to provide logistical support for the Americans in an emergency “in areas surrounding Japan”. Gen Nakatani, the young turk whom Mr Koizumi has put in charge of the Defence Agency, believes the government could work within these guidelines, even if the theatre of war were Afghanistan.
But older heads are counselling caution. Yasuo Fukuda, the chief cabinet secretary, sometimes called the real power behind Mr Koizumi's administration, says that treating Afghanistan as a neighbouring country would be too big a stretch. So a new set of guidelines may be needed, though the government has not yet stated whether it will legislate for these or not.
Mr Koizumi faces powerful opponents of new legislation within his own party. His main coalition partner, New Komeito, has a strong pacifist complexion. Some small opposition parties, such as the Social Democrats and the Communists, implacably oppose any expansion of the armed forces' role. Yet there is almost certainly a large majority in parliament available to Mr Koizumi should he press ahead. The real question, like the one that hovers over Mr Koizumi's financial reforms, is whether he can abandon the traditional consensus system and show leadership
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