As the coronavirus continues to spread, defense exchanges with other countries and international security-related conferences have been postponed or suspended. The Defense Ministry is speeding up efforts to establish systems to prevent the spread of infection within the Self-Defense Forces and to respond to provocations by neighboring countries at the same time.
"The extent to which certain measures [such as restricting entry] will be implemented in the future will have an impact on Japan-U.S. joint exercises. We would like to proceed with caution as we monitor the situation closely so the exercises will not be impacted," Gen. Koji Yamazaki, chief of staff of the SDF's Joint Staff, said at a press conference.
As for defense exchanges with other countries, a shooting competition was scheduled to be held toward the end of March in Australia and 21 countries were to participate, but it is now impossible for the Ground Self-Defense Force to take part because of the current climate.
There is also concern that the SDF's overseas activities will be affected. The SDF's intelligence-gathering activities in Middle Eastern waters and antipiracy operations off Somalia and other parts of Africa will face difficulties keeping troops supplied and allowing new troops to come in if the countries where SDF bases are located restrict their entry. "In the worst-case scenario, there could be an interruption of the operation," a senior SDF official said.
High-level exchanges between defense authorities have also been stalled. According to Defense Ministry sources, Defense Minister Taro Kono planned to visit the United States in late April to hold talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, but the spread of the virus in the U.S. has made the meeting difficult. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff also postponed his planned visit to Japan at the end of the month.
The Asia Security Summit, which is held in Singapore every June for defense ministers, is also likely to be postponed this year.
Practical defense authorities in Japan and the United States are trying to maintain cooperation through teleconferencing, but in some cases, the other party is working from home, so "there's a limit to video conferencing," said a Defense Ministry official.
Another major concern is the spread of the virus to SDF units in Japan. As of Thursday, only one senior official of the Joint Staff Office was infected with the virus. If the infection spreads to members of the SDF at garrison sites and on vessels nationwide, operations could be affected. In a confined submarine, all crew members are now required to wear masks. In addition, each SDF unit will formulate a plan to deal with the spread of the infection in order to minimize damage even if the virus is confirmed within the unit.
Against this backdrop, North Korea has launched a series of missiles and continued provocations. "[North Korea] tests Japan's immediate response system in times of emergency," a senior SDF official said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
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