IMPLEMENTATION OF TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS

UNCLAS TOKYO 006326 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR PM/PPA ROSATI AND S/CRS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MASS MARR KPKO JA SUBJECT: IMPLEMENTATION OF TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS SUPPORT ARRANGEMENT REF: STATE 179500 ¶1. Pursuant to reftel, Embassy Tokyo Political Officer called on Akihito Teruuchi of the MOFA Foreign Policy Bureau's recently created Special Task Force for Stabilization and Reconstruction (J-STAR). Teruuchi, who attended the October 10 meeting in Moscow, was familiar with the Transportation and Logistics Support Arrangement (TLSA) issue and was expecting to receive our proposal. He affirmed that Tokyo welcomes and is very interested in a mechanism that allows for information gathering and sharing. However, he added the caveat that Japan's ability to participate in on-the-ground support for peacekeeping operations is potentially limited by its laws and Constitution which place strict restrictions on the activities of its Self Defense Forces. Political Officer acknowledged this, but highlighted that assisting countries to transport or sustain forces involved in humanitarian or peacekeeping operations did not necessarily involve becoming involved in confrontational military operations and might involve merely the provision of funding to enable others to take more direct action. Teruuchi said that he will share our nonpaper with others in the government and that Japan will reply as quickly as possible. ¶2. Teruuchi noted that Ambassador Masato Kitera, who led Japan's delegation at the October 10 Moscow meeting, has recently been designated as the Ambassador in Charge of Stabilization and Reconstruction and now heads the Foreign Policy Bureau's J-STAR unit. As such, he is the counterpart of S/CRS Ambassador Herbst. SCHIEFFER