Japan
Don't furl the flag
Oct 18th 2007
From The Economist print edition
Japan's soldiers deserve better support from its politicians
FOR the first time since it started sending its soldiers, sailors and airmen to report for duty in the world's trouble-spots, Japan is about to sound an embarrassing retreat. In November supply vessels and escort ships, deployed to the Indian Ocean for the past six years in support of counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, will steam home to a political crisis over their role that will confine them to port for months. Worse, it could end Japan's role in Operation Enduring Freedom, the crucial battle against the Taliban.
So is this the Japan of old: self-absorbed, unashamed at leaving others to do the hard military tasks? The row about the ships has triggered a crisis of confidence about what Japan's role in the world should be (see article). But with luck the debate will also remind Japan's voters, its neighbours and its allies of what all stand to lose should Japan go AWOL.
Cocooned in its protective alliance with America, Japan started scrambling to attention when it discovered that its cheque-book diplomacy in the 1991 Iraq war bought neither influence nor gratitude. Since then, North Korea's threatening missile tests and rival China's increasingly capable ships, submarines and aircraft (and its missile build-up near Taiwan) have drawn Japan into more active service with America.
For the past 15 years Japan has also volunteered for a variety of peacekeeping duties for the UN. But after the September 11th attacks, its Self-Defence Forces (SDF is a euphemism for its armed forces that gets round its pacifist-sounding constitution) have been deployed in much more determined fashion. Besides those supply vessels loitering in the Indian Ocean, Japan has contributed soldiers for reconstruction work and air crews for logistics support in Iraq. Its ships and aircraft have assisted relief efforts from post-tsunami Indonesia to quake-stricken Pakistan. Lately it has struck up closer military ties with Australia and to a lesser degree India, and drawn closer to NATO and the European Union.
For Japan's government, this broader military effort has had a clear diplomatic purpose. Japan would like a more permanent seat on the UN Security Council and presents its readiness to shoulder some of the harder security tasks as one of its credentials. A more striking global role, its military component firmly anchored in co-operation with allies and with the UN, is also a way of bolstering Japan's influence against a rising China and a confident Russia without causing alarm.
Most Japanese have been comfortable so far with the good work their soldiers have been doing. That is partly because, in carrying the flag to dangerous places, the SDF, relying on the protection of others, has taken no casualties (though Japan has lost some courageous diplomats). But such support is another reason to hope that Japan's well-drilled and helpful defence forces are not about to be ordered back to barracks.
Support your troops
It is a pity then that the ships row—which started as a cynical ploy by Japan's opposition Democratic Party (itself in favour of a bigger security role for Japan) to bring down the government—is preventing the Diet debating more useful things. The cap was officially lifted 20 years ago, but Japan's defence budget is still under 1% of GDP and so is increasingly stretched by the SDF's new overseas duties. Draft legislation to lay down more predictable guidelines for deploying troops overseas will languish until the row about the ships is resolved. It would help too if tight limits on the numbers of SDF members able to be deployed at any one time and for how long could be eased. Japan's soldiers do increasingly difficult jobs around the world. They deserve better support at home.
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