Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TOKYO205
2008-01-25 06:33:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:  

COLLECTIVE SELF-DEFENSE REPORT SLOWLY MOVES FORWARD

Tags:  PREL PGOV MOPS JA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0816
PP RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHKO #0205/01 0250633
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 250633Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1248
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 2090
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 5706
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 8102
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 9373
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 6314
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI PRIORITY 6869
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/USFJ PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000205 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS JA
SUBJECT: COLLECTIVE SELF-DEFENSE REPORT SLOWLY MOVES FORWARD

REF: 07 TOKYO 2357

TOKYO 00000205 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer per 1.4 (b/d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000205

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS JA
SUBJECT: COLLECTIVE SELF-DEFENSE REPORT SLOWLY MOVES FORWARD

REF: 07 TOKYO 2357

TOKYO 00000205 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer per 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Summary: A high-level panel of foreign affairs and
other experts has completed a first draft of a report
examining scenarios involving collective self-defense --
currently considered unconstitutional -- and making legal and
policy recommendations to address these issues. The panel,
established by former PM Abe in May 2007, studied four cases,
including Japanese defense of a U.S. vessel under attack and
Japan's use of missile defense to intercept a ballistic
missile fired at the United States. According to some panel
members, Prime Minister Fukuda has been less than
enthusiastic about the panel's work, and possibly for
domestic political reasons instructed the panel to limit its
ambit and address only two of the four scenarios. The panel
nonetheless plans to issue its full report sometime this
spring, and preliminary statements by panel members, all
selected by former PM Abe, over the course of the past seven
months have indicated a clear preference to reinterpret the
Constitution to allow Japan to exercise the right to
collective self-defense in all four scenarios. End Summary.


2. (C) Former Prime Minister Abe convened in May 2007 a
special panel called the Council for the Reconstruction of
the Legal Foundation for National Defense to examine four
cases involving collective self-defense -- which is
prohibited under the current interpretation of the
Constitution -- and make recommendations for addressing these
issues through legal or policy means. The four cases are: 1)
defending U.S. vessels under attack on the high seas while
carrying out joint drills with Self Defense Forces (SDF)
vessels; 2) using missile defense to intercept ballistic
missiles headed towards the United States; 3) defending
troops of another country should they come under attack
during UN-sponsored international peacekeeping operations;
and, 4) providing logistic support, including the transport
of weapons, to foreign militaries engaged in international
peacekeeping operations.



3. (C) The panel, chaired by former Ambassador to the United
States Shunji Yanai, includes a number of other high-powered
figures in foreign policy and other circles, such as Tokyo
University Professor Akihiko Tanaka, Ambassador Hisahiko
Okazaki, and Japan Rail TOKAI Chairman Yoshiyuki Kasai.
Ambassador Yanai told Embassy Tokyo on January 17 that he and
the panel's core group had met twice over the past month to
complete the first draft of the panel's report, the outline
of which he shared with Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura.
According to Yanai, CCS Machimura continues to be
"forthcoming" about the panel's activities.


4. (C) That said, Prime Minister Fukuda has been "less
positive" about the report, according to both Yanai and
Okazaki (protect). Ambassador Okazaki told Embassy Tokyo
political officers that the PM instructed the panel to delete
Scenario 1 (naval operations) and Scenario 2 (missile
defense) from the report. Former PM Abe had stressed the
importance of those two scenarios over the others, and they
were the first to be considered by the panel. Ambassador
Yanai added separately that the panel has pushed back,
arguing that the PM could receive the report -- most likely
through the Chief Cabinet Secretary -- without necessarily
agreeing with its contents. The final report will cover all
four categories, Yanai asserted. In a separate conversation
with DCM, Assistant Cabinet Secretary Ando predicted that the
Prime Minister would place heaviest emphasis on scenarios
three and four because of his interest in passing a Permanent
Dispatch Law.


5. (C) Political reporter Hiro Akita of Nikkei Shimbun -- the
newspaper that initially reported the PM's desire to scrap
parts of the panel's report -- told Embassy Tokyo that the PM
likely sought to ensure that the report focused on
"realistic" scenarios that could be used to bolster his
administration's efforts to pass legislation giving the
government permanent authority to dispatch the SDF within the
constraints of Japan's Constitution. At the same time, the
PM hoped to prevent the report from unintentionally playing
into the hands of the opposition by somehow bolstering the

TOKYO 00000205 002.2 OF 002


arguments Ichiro Ozawa has made about what roles the SDF can
take on internationally, Akita speculated. Yanai separately
noted that the thinking of the panel and Ozawa "aren't that
different."


6. (C) As for the panel's conclusions, both Yanai and Okazaki
pledged to share the contents of the report when the panel
had agreed on a draft. Preliminary statements by panel
members over the course of the past seven months have
indicated a clear preference to reinterpret the Constitution
to allow Japan to exercise its inherent right to collective
self-defense under the UN Charter in all four scenarios. The
panel was initially tasked with providing former PM Abe with
a report in the fall of 2007, but now believes that it will
submit the report in March or April after the Diet's budget
deliberations or after the passage of the budget, Yanai
explained. Regardless of the panel's recommendations, it
will take much time and legislative work to actually
implement the recommendations contained therein, Okazaki said.
SCHIEFFER