Dispatch Japan's Self-Defence Forces overseas

Discussions between the ruling coalition parties about new legal arrangements regarding national security are in full swing. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito are coordinating their views to allow international cooperation by SDF troops overseas based on three legal arrangements – revising the law for dealing with military emergencies in areas surrounding Japan, revising the UN peacekeeping operations cooperation law and creating a permanent law regarding dispatch of the SDF.

Of course, these arrangements will not make SDF troops engage in combat. But it is essential to enable SDF units to flexibly and efficiently provide logistics support, such as supply and transport, to the forces of other countries.

Geographical restrictions must be removed from the law for dealing with military emergencies in areas surrounding Japan. Also, the law must be revised to allow the SDF to provide logistics support to other forces besides the US military.

The point is not where an emergency happens but how it affects Japan’s peace and security. It is sufficiently conceivable that a situation in an area remote from Japan could have a significant influence on the nation, like something that might happen on the Korean Peninsula.

In such a case, there would be many opportunities for the SDF to operate jointly with the forces of countries other than the US.

Attention is also focused on whether the envisaged permanent law should allow SDF troops to be sent abroad even without a UN Security Council resolution.

The missions that SDF troops will be able to carry out will not be limited to those based on UN resolutions, such as past peacekeeping operations, refuelling missions in the Indian Ocean and reconstruction assistance in Iraq.

There have been many instances since 2000 when multinational forces participated in operations without UN resolutions, such as the truce monitoring missions in Sri Lanka and on the Philippine island of Mindanao, and police actions in the Solomon Islands.

A resolution cannot be adopted by the UN Security Council if some countries use their veto power. That is why room should be left in the envisaged permanent law to allow SDF units to participate in missions conducted by a coalition of willing countries not based on a UN resolution. If the envisaged law is enacted, the SDF will be able to spend enough time training for and researching possible missions in times of peace, and can make preparations for its troops’ dispatch, such as procurement of necessary equipment. 

SDF troops will not participate in all such missions. The government will decide whether to send the SDF abroad on a case-by-case basis.

The government is considering the possibility of allowing SDF units to rescue Japanese detained in other countries, and to inspect ships in situations other than an emergency in areas surrounding Japan. However, a mission to rescue Japanese by SDF units must fulfil difficult conditions, such as reaching an agreement with the country where a rescue operation will be carried out. Even if the possibility of sending SDF units abroad is not high for such missions, developing legal arrangements that can deal with every possible scenario will enable the SDF to act quickly in concert with other countries.