Japanese SDF Dispatch to Hormuz Faces High Hurdles

Tokyo, March 16 (Jiji Press)–U.S. President Donald Trump’s call on Japan to send Self-Defense Forces ships to the Strait of Hormuz has put the country in a difficult situation, as deploying SDF ships to the area would face high hurdles. In a social media post Saturday, Trump urged Japan and other countries to send warships to the strait, which is under effective blockade amid U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran. “Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send ships to the area,” he said. From Wednesday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to make her first U.S. trip since taking office last October. Trump may directly ask her to send the SDF to the strait, a major oil choke point. Tokyo has launched full-scale discussions on how to respond to Trump’s request within the constraints of the Constitution and existing laws. The government “has made no decision at all on whether to send any destroyers” to the area, Takaichi told the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said his ministry is “not considering sending the SDF” to the area. On Sunday, Takaichi was briefed on the Middle East situation for around two hours at the prime minister’s official residence. Participants are also believed to have discussed the upcoming Japan-U.S. summit. “We need to understand the specifics of requests by the United States,” a government official said. “We also need to watch other countries’ moves.” Another official said, “We have to think about how to respond to the U.S. president as soon as possible.” The government is considering what it can do under the national security-related laws enacted in 2015. Even before Trump made his request, the government had examined possible scenarios. The first thing Tokyo discussed was whether the tensions over the strait would constitute a situation threatening Japan’s survival, which would allow the country to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Minesweeping in the strait was listed as a possible example of the country’s exercise of the right by the then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during parliamentary deliberations on the security-related laws, which were enacted in 2015. Still, a survival-threatening situation would require an armed attack on a country with close ties with Japan and a clear danger that threatens Japan’s existence and upends the lives, freedom and rights of its people. The country has set a high threshold to recognize a case threatening Japan’s survival, because exercising the right to collective self-defense was long regarded as unconstitutional. Many in Takaichi’s government believe that the current de facto blockade would not constitute a survival-threatening situation. “I am 99 pct sure,” an official said. According to the security-related laws, the strait situation could still be designated as one having a serious impact on the country’s peace and security, allowing Japan to provide logistic support for the U.S. military and others. Still, such a designation would require a situation that poses a risk that Japan may come under a direct armed attack if the situation is left unaddressed. “The bar is not low,” a government source said. Another possibility is a government recognition of a situation enabling international peace and security cooperation under the security-related laws. Such a situation would open the way for Japan to engage in activities supporting foreign militaries, but that would require a U.N. resolution. Under the security laws, Japan cannot operate in combat zones in a situation greatly affecting its security or in a situation requiring security cooperation. “Even if we’re deployed now, we can do nothing,” an SDF source said. While the government is examining the possibilities of an SDF dispatch under the Defense Ministry establishment law and a special measures law, an informed source said, “It’s politically difficult to dispatch any SDF unit during ongoing combat.” If Tokyo decides to send SDF vessels to the strait, it would face another problem. Japan has avoided making a legal assessment of the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, despite public criticism that their acts constitute international law violations. During the parliamentary deliberations on the security-related laws, Abe said that Japan would “not support” any country conducting an illegal pre-emptive attack on another nation. In a Budget Committee meeting of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, last week, Takaichi said there is “no change” in the government’s stance over the matter. Yuichi Goto of the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance responded, “If that is the case, the SDF cannot provide logistic support to the U.S. forces unless the government judges the U.S. attacks on Iran to be legal.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]