Japan and the War on Terror by Michael Penn

Author:Michael Penn [Penn, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, International Relations, Arms Control, History, Modern, 21st Century, Security (National & International), Asia, Japan
ISBN: 9781780763699
Google: aBU-zAEACAAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: 2014-07-11T22:29:25+00:00

Afghanistan

In the case of Afghanistan, Japanese conservatives wanted to take centre stage, but could never quite find a way of doing so without subjecting themselves to unbearably high political risks. At the outset of the War on Terror, however, this difficulty was not yet apparent, and Japan initiated its campaign with a moment of triumph.

In early November 2001, as the Taliban regime was collapsing, Prime Minister Koizumi named former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata as his special representative for Afghanistan. Ogata was pleased to accept the post, since she had long felt that she had not finished her work of helping Afghan refugees.29 Simultaneously with Ogata’s appointment, it was also announced that the main international conference for rebuilding Afghanistan would be held in Tokyo. This was precisely the kind of high profile international role that made Japanese officials glow with pride.

In December 2001, three LDP lawmakers led by Yasuhisa Shiozaki visited Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan to meet the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, a key figure in the Northern Alliance.30 Tokyo’s eagerness to recognize the new regime was palpable, with Vice-Foreign Minister Yoshiji Nogami going so far as to suggest that it was not necessary to wait for the actual launch of the Afghan administration before recognizing it.31 Formal diplomatic recognition came on December 26, and the Japanese flag was hoisted over its liaison office in Kabul for the first time in many years. Ogata herself went to Kabul in early January to hold talks with Hamid Karzai, head of the new Afghan government.

The main event in Tokyo – the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan – was scheduled for January 21–22, 2002. Japanese leaders received wide praise for their leading role. For example, World Bank President James Wolfensohn offered this tribute: ‘The Japanese government has indicated that it wishes to have a leadership position in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. That is why the conference is being held in Tokyo and why it is one of the four members of the steering committee.’32 In fact, Japan’s initial role was so prominent that the governments of Britain, France and Germany complained bitterly to US officials that their nations’ military contributions to the Afghan campaign should have entitled them to host the conference.33 In terms of financial contributions, however, Tokyo did assume the lead. The pledge of up to US$500 million for the first two years of Afghan reconstruction was the largest single pledge by any country.

Although the conference was a big success for Japanese policymakers, their joy was overshadowed by a very public feud between Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and Vice-Foreign Minister Yoshiji Nogami over the participation of Japanese NGOs. Tanaka was angry that Foreign Ministry bureaucrats, working covertly with an influential LDP lawmaker, had banned two NGOs – Peace Winds Japan and Japan Platform – from participation in the conference because of their alleged ‘antigovernment’ political views. Since her appointment as foreign minister, Tanaka had repeatedly clashed with the powerful bureaucracy, and some Japanese diplomats were openly subverting her authority.

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