The Philippine Territory

Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has announced his country’s intention to begin direct shipments of "humanitarian aid" to the Syrian opposition. Russia believes, however, that the Syrian conflict must be resolved without any foreign interference.

Humanitarian assistance with a political slant

According to the statement by Minister Kishida, Japan’s humanitarian assistance will include medical supplies, food, transport vehicles, and autonomous power generators. The minister said the supplies will be delivered to parts of Syria which are not under the Syrian government’s control, and which are not being monitored by international organizations.

According to Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga, the country’s government is “studying the possibility of supplying only the kind of products that cannot be used for military purposes, and cannot lead to a prolongation of the conflict”.



Tokyo’s decision appears to fall in line with a distinct pattern. It was clearly taken as part of the efforts aimed at increasing Japan’s contribution to the country’s alliance with the United States. It is well known that amid growing concerns over recent advances by the Syrian government troops, Washington is for the first time considering the possibility of direct weapons supplies to the Syrian rebels. In 2012 the Japanese government officially recognized the Syrian opposition (the Syrian National Council) as a “representative of the Syrian people”. At the same time, Japan has not made any deliveries to the Syrian opposition, even though it has already earmarked about 80 million dollars for addressing humanitarian problems in the country in cooperation with international organizations.

Another thing to take into account is that leaders at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland discussed a coordinated approach and a distribution of responsibilities with regard to the Syrian conflict between four key allies: the United States, Japan, Britain and France. On the whole, the approach seems to replicate the tried and tested model of strategic cooperation between those allies on the international arena, whereby the Western countries take care of the military side of things, while Tokyo handles the humanitarian aspect. Japan’s contribution to the course plotted by the Western governments should also be assessed in the context of Tokyo’s interest in strengthening Western solidarity on a problem seen as much more pressing in Japan – namely, a consolidated position on the North Korean nuclear program.

A new spiral of militarization

The Japanese government’s decision to supply "humanitarian assistance" to the Syrian opposition brings into stark relief another problem. Japan has long been moving towards a gradual weakening of any legal or regulatory restrictions on arms exports. Tokyo has a policy of “three principles” which ban arms exports, and does not allow any weapons to leave the country's territory. Nevertheless, for many decades now private Japanese companies have been able to bypass the ban by exporting weapons components or dual-purpose technology. For example, Toyota trucks have long been used in armed conflicts in the Middle East, even though the Japanese government says this constitutes misuse of legitimately exported technology.

Back in 2011 the Noda administration announced a weakening of export restrictions, saying that it will allow weapons exports if the weapons in question have been developed in cooperation with countries designated as Japan’s national security allies. Following the arrival of the Abe administration, Japanese officials prefer not to mention any domestic legal restrictions on exports, saying only that arms exports should be “in strict compliance with the UN Charter”, and that the main criterion for allowing such exports is “preventing the spread of any international conflicts”.

The most high-profile example is Japan's participation in developing high-precision weapons as part of its commitments to its allies. For example, many components of the latest multinational F-35 fighter are of Japanese origin. F-35 fighters will be supplied to Israel, and are therefore very likely to take part in armed conflicts. Japan’s participation in their development is therefore a direct violation of its own "three principles” policy. Apart from strategic considerations, i.e. an aspiration to strengthen its alliance with the Western countries, Tokyo also wants to support its own national defense industry by securing its involvement in developing the latest military technologies. There is also an important regional aspect to take into account: Japan's decision to participate in the development of the F-35 fighter coincided with the Abe administration's doctrine of "maintaining a military capability to attack enemy bases”, which is linked to the progress being made by the North Korean nuclear and missile programs.
Read More: http://rbth.asia/opinion/2013/06/21/moscow_tokyo_on_opposite_sides_over_syrian_crisis_47471.html