Date: 98-12-26

By TOSHIO JO

Asahi Evening News

The Foreign Ministry is looking at whether Japan can play a greater role in
future U.N. peacekeeping operations--a project aimed at clearing up the muddle
surrounding constitutional interpretation which surfaced during discussions
for a planned coalition government, key sources said Friday.

The issue of security policy is the key outstanding issue between the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in their talks to form a
conservative alliance by early January. Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who is
also president of the LDP, and Liberal Party President Ichiro Ozawa agreed
earlier to establish a "basic principle" on security affairs, although details
remain vague.

They are to meet Monday for a final round of talks to settle their
differences. The security issue is expected to be a key topic.

According to Foreign Ministry sources, various options that are being studied
include participation by the Self-Defense Forces in U.N. peacekeeping forces.
The most vexing question for Japan is whether Japanese forces can take part in
activities like conflict control.

The Foreign Ministry is also expected to study whether Japan can provide rear-
echelon logistic support for U.N.-backed forces in regional conflicts, the
sources said.

The ministry is feverishly working to present viable policy options on the
security issue as the political leaders try to iron out their differences,
according to a senior ministry official.

Ozawa contends the government should change its constitutional interpretation
so that the Self-Defense Forces can take part in any U.N.-backed operations,
such as the U.S.-led multinational effort that waged the Persian Gulf War in
1991 to force Iraq out of Kuwait.

But the government opposes Ozawa's view on grounds the Constitution bans any
operations abroad that constitute combat activities.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka told reporters Friday that the Obuchi
administration has no plans to change the interpretation.

The proposed basic principle on security affairs will be worked out under that
format, he said.

Given the circumstances, the governing LDP must explore every avenue to
increase the scope of Japan's participation in U.N.-backed peace activities so
as not to make Ozawa look bad, political analysts said. That, they added, is
because the LDP needs the Liberal Party as an ally.

In this context, the possibility of the SDF taking part in peacekeeping forces
is slowly gaining currency, ministry sources said.

When overseas crises erupt, the U.N. peacekeeping forces usually play roles
such as monitoring compliance of cease-fire arrangements, supervising the
disarming of warring parties, patrolling buffer zones, assisting in drawing up
a cease-fire line demarcation and assisting in exchanges of prisoners of war.
Members of such forces are armed.

Currently, however, Japan's participation in U.N. peacekeeping activities is
limited to noncombat observer missions--the monitoring of the implementation
of an existing truce agreement in support of diplomatic efforts to reach a
political settlement.

The peacekeeping cooperation law of 1992 stipulates that SDF participation in
the missions by U.N. peacekeeping forces will be frozen until separate
legislation provides for a lifting of the freeze.

"We (the ministry) are studying these options and others so that we can be
clear on what Japan can do within the current constitutional interpretation,"
a senior ministry official said.

The SDF's participation in peacekeeping forces is possible within the current
constitutional interpretation, the official said.

Such participation has been frozen because of the strong military
connotations.

According to a source close to the Liberal Party, Ozawa has asked Obuchi to
study the possibility of enacting a "basic security law" that would enable
Japan to take part in U.N.-backed peace operations, among them combat
activities.

Ozawa wants the proposed law to include a provision on Japan's participation
in ship inspections in accordance with U.N. resolutions. This is a key area
that already has been covered in proposed and pending legislation on revised
Japan-U.S. defense guidelines on defense cooperation, according to the source.

The Foreign Ministry is against enacting a separate law since proposed
legislation on defense guidelines has already been submitted to the Diet.

The Diet will deliberate on the proposed bill at a regular session to be
convened in January.