The Japanese parliament yesterday was set to pass an anti-piracy law that would allow the nation’s military wider scope to use force and protect foreign-flagged ships off Somalia, officials said.
Japan in March joined the US, China and other countries in the maritime operation against pirates who have attacked ships in the Gulf of Aden, a key maritime route leading to the Suez Canal.
Because of limits on Japan’s military imposed under its post-World War II pacifist Constitution, Japan’s two destroyers so far have no mandate to use force except in self-defense and to protect Japanese interests.
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
The government-sponsored bill would widen their rules of engagement and allow them to fire at the hulls of pirate vessels — but not at the pirates themselves — after repeated warnings and as a last resort.
The new bill would also allow the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force to protect any commercial ships threatened by pirates, not just those sailing under the Japanese flag or carrying Japanese nationals or cargo.
Japan’s lower house first passed the bill in April, but the opposition-controlled upper house rejected it early yesterday after lawmakers voiced concern about expanding Japan’s military reach.
OVERRIDE
However, the lower house, which can override upper house vetos on certain bills, was expected to turn the bill into law later yesterday.
The opposition, led by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), has called for a revision to the bill to strengthen the role of the coast guard instead of the military in anti-piracy activities in waters far from Japan.
Conservative Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, who faces an election this year, has strongly promoted the bill, arguing Japan should play a greater role in international security.
Aso has also said security of maritime transport was vitally important for Japan, a resource-poor island country that draws much of its energy needs from the Middle East.
DESTROYERS
In addition to two destroyers, with some 400 crew, Japan last month dispatched two maritime surveillance aircraft and scores of military personnel to beef up its anti-piracy mission.
The operation is an unprecedented military mission abroad for Japan, which raises the likelihood its armed forces could face armed combat abroad for the first time since World War II.
Japan’s major past overseas military missions — including in Iraq, near Afghanistan and as UN peacekeepers — have focused on logistical and support operations such as refueling, transport and reconstruction.
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