Lower house approves antipiracy legislation over opposition+

TOKYO, April 23 Kyodo - The House of Representatives passed a government-sponsored antipiracy bill on Thursday without any amendment in the face of opposition by the Democratic Party of Japan and other smaller parties.

The bill, which would enable the regular dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces on
antipiracy missions abroad, cleared the lower house's special committee on
antipiracy operations in the afternoon before being approved by the chamber at
a plenary session.
Although the bill is expected to be voted down at the opposition-controlled
House of Councillors, it is likely to be enacted into law by the June 3 end of
the current parliamentary session after the lower house passes it a second
time.
''Ensuring the safety of maritime transport is a priority for a trading nation
that relies heavily on imports for resources,'' Prime Minister Taro Aso said
during the panel meeting. ''Making further contributions (to maritime transport
safety) has been much hoped for worldwide, and we have a duty to answer that
call.''
The legislation would authorize the SDF to open fire on pirate boats that
despite repeated warnings approach commercial ships -- a provision that
concerns some opposition lawmakers who worry about its potential conflict with
the country's war-renouncing Constitution, which limits the use of force
abroad.
Some opposition lawmakers say legalizing the use of weapons in such a manner
could pave the way for a wider and more liberal use of weapons by the SDF when
it is dispatched abroad on different missions.
The bill would give the Japan Coast Guard a principal role in antipiracy
operations but allow the SDF to take on that role only if the coast guard
cannot handle it.
''We proposed a good number of revisions and talked with the ruling bloc about
an amendment, but ended up having most of them rejected. We opposed (the bill)
because it's way too different from our party's way of thinking,'' said Naoto
Kan, acting DPJ president, in a news conference.
He said his party would keep asking for the bill to be amended in the upper
house, while noting he has yet to hear from party members in the chamber how
they would handle it.
The legislative move follows a breakdown in talks on amending the bill the
previous day between the ranking panel members of the Liberal Democratic
Party-New Komeito party ruling bloc and the DPJ.
At issue was whether the ruling coalition would agree to add a Diet approval
provision to the bill so that the SDF could be sent abroad on an antipiracy
mission only if the Diet gives prior approval.
The bill, as it stands, would only require the prime minister to report to
parliament once he or she gives approval for the SDF instead of the coast guard
to be dispatched to defend ships against pirates.
The prime minister, according to the bill, would also have to report to
parliament after a mission is completed.
The LDP proposed a compromise plan to the DPJ during the talks, but the DPJ
rejected it, according to participants in the meetings between the two parties.
The LDP did not agree to amend the bill in line with the DPJ's proposal either,
they said.
Smaller opposition parties -- the Social Democratic Party and the People's New
Party -- oppose both the government-sponsored bill and the DPJ-proposed
amendment.
A temporary law has hitherto been enacted for each dispatch of the SDF abroad,
such as to Iraq and the Indian Ocean off Afghanistan, requiring parliamentary
approval in advance to make its overseas operations possible.
The government and the ruling parliamentary bloc say similar approval is
unnecessary for antipiracy operations because they are an exercise of policing
authority and thus do not constitute a military action.
A senior DPJ lawmaker in the upper house said earlier that the party would not
block the bill's passage in the chamber, making it likely that the law would be
enacted during the current session.
Japan has sent two Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers to the Gulf of Aden
off Somalia on an antipiracy mission on the basis of the maritime police action
provision of the Self-Defense Forces Law.
The provision allows the SDF to escort only Japanese-linked ships, such as
Japanese-registered ships and foreign-flagged vessels operated by Japanese
firms, and to use weapons against pirates only in limited circumstances,
including in self-defense.
Once the legislation is enacted, the government plans to switch the legal basis
for the antipiracy mission so that the destroyers would be able to protect any
ship, regardless of its Japanese connections.
Since they began their mission on March 30, Japanese destroyers have so far
escorted 26 Japanese-related commercial ships in the gulf and helped three
unrelated ships repel suspicious vessels that were approaching them, according
to the Defense Ministry.
Piracy has been growing in the waters off the coast of Somalia, with 61
incidents in the three months through March, according to the Malaysia-based
International Maritime Bureau. Nine vessels were captured and 157 crew members
were taken hostage, it said.
To protect commercial vessels from the rampant piracy, countries such as the
United States, some European Union nations, Russia and China have sent naval
vessels to the region.
==Kyodo