War laws allow Japan-U.S. joint operations overseas: government

The contingency bills, if enacted, will enable the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to carry out joint operations with U.S. forces outside of Japan in case SDF units deployed abroad are attacked, on the grounds that it is an attack on Japan.

This is what Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda Yasuo stated in answer to a Democratic Party lawmaker during the House of Representatives special committee meeting on May 9.

Fukuda said that when SDF units deployed in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean come under premeditated attack, the government will recognize the attack as "an armed attack on Japan."

Defense Agency Director General Ishiba Shigeru did not deny this view.

Fukuda said that the contingency laws enables joint Japan-U.S. military operations to take place. In the event of an armed attack on SDF units deployed overseas, U.S. forces may respond to Japan's request based on Japan-U.S. agreements to exercise the right to collective self-defense and take necessary steps to repel the attack on the SDF, he added. (end)