Tokyo, September 10: A partner in Japan’s incoming coalition government on Thursday said it would not budge from its demand that the nation end a naval refuelling mission backing US-led military operations in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon on Wednesday urged the next government, led by the untested centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), to continue the mission in the Indian Ocean, despite its campaign promise to end it.
Yasumasa Shigeno, secretary general of the DPJ’s coalition partner the Social Democratic Party (SDP), said, “Our policy will not change.”
The SDP and another small party on Wednesday struck a coalition deal with the DPJ headed by Yukio Hatoyama, who is set to take over as prime minister next week following his party’s landslide election win on August 30.
Hatoyama said on the campaign trail that his party would not renew the naval mission when its mandate expires next year, but since then he has also sought to allay fears in Washington that Japan would cool towards the superpower.
The accord signed by the three parties does not mention the naval mission.
A spokesman for the SDP — who have long been ardent defenders of the pacifist ideals enshrined in Japan’s post-World War II Constitution — reiterated on Thursday that it wants the mission stopped “as early as possible”.
On Wednesday, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said of the mission that “we would very much encourage them to continue those efforts.”
“Japan is a great power, one of the world’s wealthiest countries,” he said.
“And there is an international responsibility, we believe, for everyone to do their share as best they can to contribute to this effort to bring about a more peaceful and secure Afghanistan.”
Asked to comment on the Pentagon comment, Hatoyama just told reporters on Thursday that his party has not received a direct request.
The three coalition parties pledged in their final agreement that they would seek “a close and equal partnership in the Japan-US alliance.”
Jiji Press news agency quoted an anonymous DPJ official as saying the party “needs to come up with something” that could replace the refuelling mission.
Local media earlier reported that a DPJ-led government could offer economic and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan instead.
Takeo Kawamura, spokesman of the outgoing conservative government, stressed the importance of the mission as Japan’s international contribution.
“We strongly feel the need” to continue the mission, he told reporters.
–Agencies