For the Self-Defense Forces' mission to the Middle East, the government has concluded that if Japanese vessels are attacked by hostile foreign organizations while accompanied by or under the supervision of Maritime Self-Defense Force escort ships, the MSDF can provide protection by using its weapons.
The government holds in its new stance that such protection activities would be a legitimate form of defense and do not go against the prohibition against the use of force in Article 9 of the Constitution.
For this mission, the government intends to deal with attacks on Japanese vessels via the police powers granted in Article 82 of the Self-Defense Forces Law on marine security conduct.
Based on the law on anti-piracy measures, the MSDF can fire on the hull of an approaching suspicious ship in the course of rescuing a private vessel.
However, because this mission could involve encounters with "state or state-based organizations," such as Iran's Revolutionary Guard, a rescue operation that involves the use of weapons could violate the Constitution.
Therefore, some government officials initially said protection could not be provided.
At a House of Councillors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee session on Nov. 7, Akihiro Tsuchimichi, director of the Defense Ministry's defense policy bureau, said, "When it is clear that the other party is a state or state organization, the use of weapons by SDF personnel ordered to fulfill marine security activities would go beyond the scope of police powers and not be allowed."
However, in June last year, a tanker operated by a Japanese shipping company and others was attacked around the area that the SDF mission covers.
Before the mission was dispatched, there was concern in the government that if the MSDF could not protect Japanese vessels that are attacked, people would question the purpose of the mission.
The matter was reconsidered and a conclusion was reached that Japanese vessels under MSDF supervision could be protected because it can be judged as self-defense or an emergency evacuation. However, Japanese vessels sailing far from MSDF ships could not, even if they requested a rescue.
Because the use of weapons could cause harm and develop into a conflict, methods of protection are limited to actions such as firing warning shots into the air and maneuvering between the Japanese vessel and the suspected attacker, while retreating with the vessel under its supervision.
Further, protection based on this interpretation is limited to Japanese flagged vessels and does not include foreign tankers carrying oil to Japan.
According to Defense Minister Taro Kono, the government's position on the situation in the Middle East where MSDF personnel is dispatched is that "at this point, we do not expect other countries to identify and attack Japanese vessels."
Nevertheless, because of ever-present tensions in the Middle East, the government decided that it needed to prepare for unforeseen events.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
