Japan, S. Korea to 'co-host' PKO in Timor
Japan, S. Korea to 'co-host' PKO in Timor
Yoichi Funabashi, The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo
A contingent of 680 Self-Defense Forces (SDF) members will leave this month for East Timor to engage in peacekeeping operations (PKO). The accompanying machinery of 300 trucks and bulldozers will be used to build roads and bridges.
East Timor, with a population of 800,000, will become independent on May 20. It will go down in history as the first territory to establish independence in the 21st century. Since its establishment in 1999, the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) has been assisting with nation-building efforts. About 8,000 UN workers are engaged in a range of activities, such as maintaining law and order, ensuring means of transportation and overseeing construction projects.
They will remain after independence to support the new government. Japanese PKO troops are also scheduled to stay for two years, working in shifts of six months. Seven women are among the force. They are specialists in interpretation, medicine and communications, among other things. It is the first time for women to take part in Japanese PKO activities.
The SDF personnel will be dispatched to four locations, one of them the enclave of Okusi in West Timor where 121 troops will be stationed.
An infantry division dispatched by the Republic of Korea (South Korea) is in charge of keeping the peace in Okusi. SDF troops will provide logistical support for the South Koreans. Their first job will be to build prefab accommodation while living in tents. The South Koreans have offered to let the advance party share their lodging.
Two of the SDF members will serve as interpreters. The rest have already undergone intensive Korean language lessons to master basic conversation. South Korea will also provide Japanese interpreters. When Japan and South Korea are co-hosting World Cup soccer in their respective countries, it would be fair to say that in Okusi, the two nations will also be "cohosting" the PKO.
Lt. Col. Mitsunori Habu, 42, commander of the 4th company to be dispatched to Okusi, said: "Since we will be stationed at the national border, the work is psychologically stressful. Our main job is to repair roads needed for the activities of the South Korean troops. Initially, I expect we will have to partially rely on their support."
The purpose of participating in UN-sponsored PKO activities is for Japan to contribute to making itself useful in working for peace and stability, as befitting a responsible nation. Working with people from other countries in an environment of multilateral cooperation is a marvelous opportunity to advance mutual understanding and trust and acquire an international sense. The PKO efforts "co-sponsored" by Japan and South Korea should be seen in this light.
As Defense Agency Director-General Gen. Nakatani put it, "The people who take part in PKO activities are far more mature when they return home." The same logic applies to the SDF and Japan as a whole.
Previously, dispatching troops for overseas peacekeeping operations tended to trigger anxieties that Japan could be dragged into war. Other countries, most notably China and South Korea, worried that the deployment of SDF troops could lead to a revival of Japanese militarism. These fears proved to be groundless.
Meanwhile, public understanding and support gradually grew and now nearly 80 percent of the population supports the SDF's participation in PKO activities. The deployment this time around is welcomed by East Timor and surrounding countries.
The government should take advantage of this situation and deal with the following issues in order to become more "mature."
First, it should incorporate the activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) into the PKO program. A number of Japanese NGOs have been active in East Timor for some time. The Organization for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (OISCA) provides agricultural training; the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Japan deals with distributing infrastructure; and the Services for the Health in Asian and African Region (SHARE) is concerned with health care and hygiene. Japanese NGOs are not the only ones that are active there.
When ADRA Japan built two markets in eastern and western Dili, it relied on PKO workers from Bangladesh to do the groundwork. Since PKO activities concern nation building at a wide range of levels, there are many areas that require NGOs and PKO workers to work side by side. How they can cooperate with each other needs to be studied.
Second, based on its experience in PKO duties in East Timor, Japan should advance active PKO diplomacy in the United Nations.
In the last decade, PKO activities under United Nations auspices faced mounds of problems. Although things went well in Cambodia, Mozambique and El Salvador, the outcome was disastrous in Somalia, Bosnia and Rwanda. When nations were embroiled in ethnic and religious conflicts, PKO activities that were set up in the name of "neutrality" and "symbolism" had been baffled. In the rush to establish peace in Somalia and Bosnia, PKO personnel forcibly intervened and failed miserably. But in Rwanda's case, no country sent troops and the result was genocide. Like Kosovo and East Timor, it has become customary for multinational forces to first step in and secure peace before dispatching UN PKO troops.
Increasingly, Japanese PKO activities have encountered problems, such as the nature of the PKO duties themselves and when to allow use of force. These are the very same issues that face today's UN PKO activities in general. What is the right way to carry out PKO activities? We need to redefine and reinforce the PKO program. When Japan has its presence felt in PKO operations, it will be able to express a greater say in diplomacy.