Japan Press Weekly

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2009 May 27 - June 2 [SDF]

P3C patrol aircraft head to Djibouti

Two P3C patrol aircraft of the Maritime Self-Defense Force on May 28 left Japan for the Republic of Djibouti, a Somali neighbor, to participate in the so-called “anti-piracy operation” which is being conducted by two MSDF destroyers, the Sazanami and the Samidare, in waters off the coast of Somalia.

This is the first time for P3C aircraft to be sent abroad on a mission.

Japanese Communist Party Inoue Satoshi on the same day used his question time at a House of Councilors Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense meeting to protest the dispatch, arguing, “This is not something Japan with the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution is allowed to do.”

Pointing out that these P3C aircraft have been sent based on the Self-Defense Forces Law provision on the “seaborne policing action”, Inoue asked whether or not they will gather extra information in addition to the “information necessary to protect Japan-related ships”.

Tokuchi Hideshi, director-general of the Operational Policy Bureau of the Defense Ministry, hinted that their activities would be expanded after an anti-piracy bill is enacted, answering, “It will be necessary to begin considering what to do. They will collect pertinent information necessary to protect ships.”

Inoue also asked whether or not those aircraft will exchange information with the U.S. forces-led multinational Combined Task Force 150 (CTF150) engaging in the “war on terrorism” in the Indian Ocean, including the Gulf of Aden.

The ministry official answered, “They will exchange information with relevant countries and organizations.” In short, Japan will provide information its P3C patrol aircraft will gather to other countries.

Inoue said, “Japan has sent its troops under the pretext of a ‘policing action’ but the United States is regarding its anti-piracy efforts as a military operation. So, there is a possibility that Japan’s information-gathering activity will be integrated with the U.S. military operation.”