Japan Readies Naval Mission to Fight Pirates

As China dispatched three warships toward the coast of Africa to fight piracy, Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso told his cabinet to speed up preparations for a possible deployment.

Near Somalia, the following nations now have naval forces on the anti-pirate patrol: Germany, France, Britain, Iran, India and the United States.  Chinese ships are on the way and Japan may send a force soon.

South Korea also has a trained anti-pirate patrol protecting war material returing from Iraq.  South Korea does not now intend to deploy near Africa.

 
File photo of South Korean Navy sailors on a vessel off TaeYonpyong Island in South Korean waters. South Korea said Wednesday it would send a destroyer to keep pirates away from military equipment being shipped back from Iraq.(AFP/Pool/File)

 
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a ceremony is held before a Chinese naval fleet sets sail from a port in Sanya city of China’s southernmost island province of Hainan on Friday, Dec. 26, 2008. Chinese warships, armed with special forces, guided missiles and helicopters, set sail Friday for anti-piracy duty off Somalia, the first time the communist nation has sent ships on a mission that could involve fighting so far beyond its territorial waters.(AP Photo/Xinhua, Zha Chunming)

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Japan on Friday moved a step closer to sending its navy to piracy-plagued waters near Somalia, with Prime Minister Taro Aso instructing his cabinet to speed up preparations for a possible deployment.

Aso “told me to accelerate studies so that the Self-Defence Forces can take measures against piracy as soon as possible,” Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters, referring to Japan’s military.

AFP

A growing number of nations are sending navy ships to fight pirates near the lawless East African country, with Japan’s neighbour and sometime rival China dispatching three vessels on Friday.

Japan has been pacifist since defeat in World War II. Under domestic law, the navy can only protect ships flying the Japanese flag or carrying Japanese passengers.

Aso, speaking with reporters late on Thursday, called for Japan to revise the law so it can also guard foreign vessels but held out the option of sending ships that for now have a limited role.

“Japan should take action in a hurry,” Aso said.

“We had better consider revising the law, but that will take time. If we have to hasten things, then we should take a defensive posture on the sea.”

Japan’s opposition controls the less powerful upper house of parliament and has repeatedly held up legislation in hopes of forcing the unpopular Aso to call early elections.

Kyodo News, quoting unnamed sources, said the government hoped to send a destroyer in February.

Japanese forces have not fired a shot in combat since World War II. But the country has tried to take on a larger role in international security, notably through a reconstruction mission in Iraq.

China’s dispatch of two destroyers and a supply ship mark the first time in recent history that Beijing has deployed vessels on a potential combat mission well beyond its territorial waters.

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