Japan yesterday ordered two warships to join an anti-piracy mission off Somalia, one of the most active deployments yet for a military restrained by the country’s post-war pacifist Constitution.
US, European and Chinese naval vessels are already deployed in the Gulf of Aden to fend off pirates behind more than 100 attacks on ships last year.
The two Japanese destroyers with 400 crew were to set sail today for the Gulf to protect cargo ships in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes near the Suez canal that links Europe with Asia, the Japanese Defense Ministry said.
“Piracy off Somalia is a threat to Japan and the international community,” Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said. “It is an important duty for the Self-Defense Forces to protect Japanese lives and assets.”
The maritime mission has divided public opinion in Japan, which under the post-World War II Constitution permits its soldiers in international disputes to use force only for self-defense and to protect Japanese nationals.
The government planned to submit a bill later yesterday that would widen the scope of force that its military personnel can use against pirates and allow them to protect foreign vessels and nationals as well as Japanese.
The two destroyers — the 4,650-tonne Sazanami and 4,550-tonne Samidare — will each carry two patrol helicopters and two speedboats, to be used by members of the navy’s commando-style Special Boarding Unit.
The ships are expected to arrive in waters near the Suez canal in around three weeks. The period of deployment has not been fixed, Hamada said, but he told reporters that “six months could be an idea.”
Japan’s major overseas missions in the past — including in Iraq, near Afghanistan and as UN peacekeepers — have so far been largely for logistical and rear-area support, such as refueling, transport and reconstruction.
Critics argue this mission could set a new precedent for Japanese military missions overseas and could see the country’s servicemen use lethal force for the first time since WWII.
However, recent newspaper polls have shown growing public support for the anti-piracy mission, with a survey this week by the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun showing 61 percent of respondents in favor and 27 percent against.
Under the current rules of engagement, the two Maritime Self-Defense Force ships, carrying a combined total of about 400 sailors and coast guard officers, would protect only Japanese ships, nationals and cargo.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party has proposed legislation to allow Japanese troops to fire on the hulls of approaching pirate boats that refuse repeated orders to stop.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS