28 December 2011 — Stop NATO
- Japan: NATO’s Gateway Into Asia-Pacific Region
- Interceptor Missiles, Stealth Warplanes: Boost To U.S.-Japan Alliance
- India-Japan-Australia: U.S. Forges Asian NATO
- ‘Reshape The International System’: India-Japan-U.S. Military Triad
- Australia Buys $950 Million Worth Of Military Planes From U.S.
- Philippines Deploys New U.S.-Provided Warship
- December: Sixteen NATO Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan By Christmas
- Pakistan: Human Rights Commission Rejects NATO Report On Attack
- Missile Radar: Turkey Arrests Anti-NATO Protesters
- NATO Summit To Boost Integration Of Ukraine: Official
Japan: NATO’s Gateway Into Asia-Pacific Region
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/12/27/63015296.html
Voice of Russia
December 27, 2011
Japan, NATO to become closer
Igor Siletsky
On Tuesday, the Japanese government has decided to partially lift a self-imposed 40-year ban on arms exports, which prohibited Japanese arms makers from joint development and export of military technology. Until now the US has been the only country with which Japan cooperated on military technologies. Now, the Land of the Rising Sun has decided to expand its military cooperation which experts see as a bid to join the European ABM project.
The ban imposed in 1967 provided that Japan could not buy weapons from countries governed by Communist regimes and countries which were involved in military conflicts. Gradually Japan stopped military cooperation with all countries except the US.
But cooperation with Washington has never stopped. Back in the 1980s, Japanese companies supplied the US with 15 new technologies for their Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). At present Tokyo, in partnership with Washington, is developing a unit for an upgraded SM3 ship missile. This missile is expected to become one of the key components in the European anti-ballistic missile system. But the ban which prohibited Japan from selling arms to Europe put a question mark over the supplies of these units to Europe. That is why the Japanese government has decided to lift the ban, which will enable Tokyo to cooperate on the development of military technologies with European and other countries.
Are the motives behind Tokyo’s decision mainly political or mainly economic? Japanese defense companies have been lobbying the government to ease the ban as they are hoping to find their niche on the global market. So the economic motives have played their role, the head of the Center for Political studies Vladimir Yevseev says:
‘The economic reasons for lifting the ban have made a serious impact. Now the country is going through an extremely difficult period, which was first of all caused by the tragedy at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. So, an opportunity to sell its military developments as part of the plan to create an anti-missile defense in Europe would benefit Tokyo economically.’
At the same time the political motives should be also taken into account. Japan is currently looking for new allies and is trying to strengthen ties with the old ones, the head of the Center for Japanese Studies Valery Kistanov says:
‘Above all Japan wants to strengthen its military alliance with the US. Japan needs it amid the current instability in the Asian Pacific region. It is concerned about the so-called Chinese military threat and the situation on the Korean peninsula after the death of Kim Jong-il. The government’s recent move is probably intended to show that Tokyo is loyal and committed to its alliance with the US.’
In all this experts can also see another tendency – Japan’s rapprochement with NATO. A close cooperation between Tokyo and Brussels would contribute to NATO’s expansion into the Asian Pacific region.
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Interceptor Missiles, Stealth Warplanes: Boost To U.S.-Japan Alliance
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?storyid=%7Bf46c5b21-7686-424e-889b-51b5e4a44a36%7D
Yomiuri Shimbun
December 27, 2011
Boost to Japan-U.S. alliance
The government’s decision to establish guidelines on the export of military equipment and technology to other nations reflects the firm resolve of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, according to analysts, and will deepen Japan’s alliance with the United States.
The new guidelines are intended to relax the three existing rules on weapons exports, and were needed because the restrictions were hindering cooperation on security issues with the United States and other countries, the analysts said.
The F-35 that Japan has decided to employ as its next-generation fighter jet was developed through the cooperation of nine countries, including the United States and Britain. Japan was asked to join the development project, but Tokyo was unable to do so because of the rules on weapons exports.
Easing the rules would make it possible for Japan’s defense industry to take part in similar international projects to develop and produce military equipment and technology.
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India-Japan-Australia: U.S. Forges Asian NATO
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20111228bc.html
Japan Times
December 28, 2011
Build Japan-India naval ties
By Brahma Chellaney
-Today, the fastest growing bilateral relationship in Asia is between India and Japan. Since they unveiled a ‘strategic and global partnership’ in 2006, their political and economic engagement has deepened remarkably.
Their growing congruence of strategic interests led to the 2008 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation…
-The joint declaration was modeled on Japan’s 2007 defense-cooperation accord with Australia — the only country with which Tokyo has a security-cooperation declaration. Japan, of course, is tied to the United States militarily since 1951 by a treaty. The India-Japan security agreement, in turn, spawned a similar India-Australian accord in 2009.
-To top it off, Japan, India, and the U.S. have initiated a trilateral strategic dialogue, whose first meeting was in Washington last week. Getting the U.S. on board will bolster the convergences of all three partners and boost India-Japan cooperation.
-India and Japan have missile-defense cooperation with Israel and the U.S., respectively. There is no reason why they should not work together on missile defense and on other technologies for mutual security.
NEW DELHI: [T]he visit of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to India offers an opportunity to the two natural allies to help promote Asian stability by adding concrete strategic content to their fast-growing relationship. Japan and India need to build close naval collaboration.
The balance of power in Asia will be determined by events principally in two regions: East Asia and the Indian Ocean. Japan and India thus have an important role to play…in the wider Indo-Pacific region.
Asia’s booming economies are bound by sea…Whereas 97 percent of India’s international trade by volume is conducted by sea, almost all of Japan’s international trade is ocean-borne. As energy-poor countries heavily dependent on oil imports from the Persian Gulf region, the two are seriously concerned…
In this light, Japan and India have already agreed to start holding joint naval exercises from the new year. This is just one sign that they now wish to graduate from emphasizing shared values to seeking to jointly protect shared interests. Today, the fastest growing bilateral relationship in Asia is between India and Japan. Since they unveiled a ‘strategic and global partnership’ in 2006, their political and economic engagement has deepened remarkably.
Their growing congruence of strategic interests led to the 2008 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, a significant milestone in building Asian power stability…
The joint declaration was modeled on Japan’s 2007 defense-cooperation accord with Australia — the only country with which Tokyo has a security-cooperation declaration. Japan, of course, is tied to the United States militarily since 1951 by a treaty. The India-Japan security agreement, in turn, spawned a similar India-Australian accord in 2009.
…India is already beginning to emerge as a favored destination in Asia for Japanese foreign direct investment.
…Japan and India have agreed to the joint development of rare earths, which are vital for a wide range of green energy technologies and military applications.
Today, the level and frequency of India-Japan official engagement is extraordinary. Noda’s New Delhi visit is part of a bilateral commitment to hold an annual summit meeting of the prime ministers. More important, Japan and India now have a series of annual minister-to-minister dialogues: a strategic dialogue between their foreign ministers; a defense dialogue between their defense ministers; a policy dialogue between India’s commerce and industry minister and Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry; and separate ministerial-level energy and economic dialogues.
Supporting these high-level discussions is another set of talks, including a two-plus-two dialogue led jointly by India’s foreign and defense secretaries and their Japanese vice minister counterparts, a maritime security dialogue, a comprehensive security dialogue, and military-to-military talks involving regular exchange visits of the chiefs of staff.
To top it off, Japan, India, and the U.S. have initiated a trilateral strategic dialogue, whose first meeting was in Washington last week. Getting the U.S. on board will bolster the convergences of all three partners and boost India-Japan cooperation.
As Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said recently, ‘Japan and the U.S. are deepening a strategic relationship with India,’ and the trilateral dialogue is ‘a specific example of collaboration’ among the three leading Asia-Pacific democracies.
Bilaterally, Japan and India need to strengthen their still-fledgling strategic cooperation by embracing two ideas, both of which demand a subtle shift in Japanese thinking and policy. One is to build interoperability between their naval forces. These forces — along with other friendly navies — can…As former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe put it in a recent speech in New Delhi, the aim should be that ‘sooner rather than later, Japan’s navy and the Indian navy are seamlessly interconnected.’ Presently, Japan has naval interoperability only with U.S. forces.
Another idea is for the two countries to jointly develop defense systems. India and Japan have missile-defense cooperation with Israel and the U.S., respectively. There is no reason why they should not work together on missile defense and on other technologies for mutual security. Their defense cooperation must be comprehensive and not be limited to strategic dialogue, maritime cooperation, and occasional naval exercises.
There is no ban on weapon exports in Japan’s U.S.-imposed Constitution, only a long-standing Cabinet decision, which in any event has been loosened. That decision, in fact, related to weapons, not technologies.
Japan and India should remember that the most-stable economic partnerships in the world, including the trans-Atlantic ones and the Japan-U.S. partnership, have been built on the bedrock of security collaboration. Economic ties that lack the support of strategic partnerships tend to be less stable, as is apparent from Japan’s and India’s economic relationships with China.
Through close strategic collaboration, Japan and India must lead the effort…in the Indo-Pacific region.
Brahma Chellaney is a professor at the independent Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.
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‘Reshape The International System’: India-Japan-U.S. Military Triad
Gulf News/Project Syndicate
december 28, 2011
New regional order in Asia is reaction to Chinese hegemony
India, Japan and the US build a strategic relationship and other Asian countries band together to counter heavyweight Beijing
By Jaswant Singh*
-India and the US have also been strengthening their strategic relations with Japan, not only bilaterally, but also in a unique trilateral way, which US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns has suggested could ‘reshape the international system’.
-So far, India’s security relations with Japan and South Korea are somewhat understated. But that is changing. During Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s recent visit to Tokyo, it was agreed that Japan and India would hold their first-ever joint naval and air force exercise in 2012. This elevates bilateral defence cooperation to the role of primary national-security tool, most importantly for Japan, which has broadened its strategic horizon beyond its immediate surroundings and the country’s long-standing alliance with the US.
-A ‘Japan-India Defence Policy Dialogue’ will be held in Tokyo in early 2012, and staff-level talks are to take place between Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force and the Indian Army, along with staff exchanges between the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force and the Indian Air Force. Indeed, Japan and India are beginning to build the type of comprehensive military cooperation that has long characterised Japan’s ties with the US.
Asia’s economic dynamism is beginning to find a parallel in the region’s diplomacy, particularly where security is concerned. Indeed, we may now be ‘present at the creation’, as former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson called his memoir, which described the construction of the post-Second World War global security order.
This time, what is being created is a security order for Asia that reflects its new-found primacy in world affairs, though what that order will ultimately look like remains to be determined.
Security has moved to the top of the regional agenda not only in response to China’s rise, but also because America and the West will be leaving a gaping hole in Asia’s security architecture when they remove their troops from Afghanistan, without first having established peace there.
Perhaps of greater importance for long-term security, the US-Pakistan relationship continues to plumb new depths, while Iran’s relations with the West go from bad to worse…
Bit by bit, initiative by initiative, many of the region’s powers are struggling to forge a coherent cooperative framework to enhance their security. For example, Australia’s Labour government has agreed to sell natural uranium to India, reversing a policy that had been in place ever since India developed its nuclear-weapons capacity.
Almost simultaneously, US President Barack Obama announced the stationing of US Marines in northern Australia. No one has explicitly linked the two moves, but they are arguably related strategically, as Australia seeks to boost its ties with both the US and Asia’s other giant, India.
Unique trilateral relations
India and the US have also been strengthening their strategic relations with Japan, not only bilaterally, but also in a unique trilateral way, which US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns has suggested could ‘reshape the international system’.
Burns, and much of the rest of America’s foreign-policy establishment, now thinks that India’s regional influence has become comprehensive; its ‘Look East’ strategy, announced earlier this year, is being translated into ‘Act East’ policies.
So far, India’s security relations with Japan and South Korea are somewhat understated. But that is changing. During Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s recent visit to Tokyo, it was agreed that Japan and India would hold their first-ever joint naval and air force exercise in 2012. This elevates bilateral defence cooperation to the role of primary national-security tool, most importantly for Japan, which has broadened its strategic horizon beyond its immediate surroundings and the country’s long-standing alliance with the US.
Indeed, Japan and India have now agreed to cooperate on ‘maritime security issues, including anti-piracy measures, freedom of navigation’ and on ‘maintaining the security of the Sea Lanes of Communication to facilitate unhindered trade, bilaterally as well as multilaterally with regional neighbours’ — meaning, of course, China.
A ‘Japan-India Defence Policy Dialogue’ will be held in Tokyo in early 2012, and staff-level talks are to take place between Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force and the Indian Army, along with staff exchanges between the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force and the Indian Air Force. Indeed, Japan and India are beginning to build the type of comprehensive military cooperation that has long characterised Japan’s ties with the US.
This development will, undoubtedly, disturb China, which has been making ever more strident moves…
The core issue is maritime security — and not only in the South China Sea.
‘The Indian Ocean,’ said the US author Robert Kaplan, ‘is where the rivalry between the United States and China in the Pacific interlocks with the regional rivalry between China and India, and also with America’s fight against terrorism in the Middle East, which includes America’s attempt to contain Iran.’
India’s own sphere
India’s and China’s rival aspirations to be acknowledged as regional Great Powers, as well as their quest for energy security, are compelling both countries to seek greater maritime security.
India, however, has a clear advantage, as its recent Look East policies show that it can forge enhanced security ties not only with the US, but also with the region’s other key powers — even Indonesia.
Stephen P. Cohen, a renowned analyst of India, has argued that, since the country gained independence, its ‘officials have inculcated the precepts of George Washington’s Farewell Address of 1796: that India, like the United States, inhabits its own geographical sphere, in India’s case between the Himalayas and the Wide Indian Ocean, and thus [it] is in a position of both dominance and detachment. During the Cold War, this meant non-engagement; now it means that Indians see themselves with their own separate status as a rising power’.
The problem, of course, is that China views itself the same way. So, how are Asia’s two giants to live in neighbourly accord without encroaching on the other’s space? So far, the response has been to construct a regional security structure with no Chinese participation.
…
*Jaswant Singh, a former Indian finance minister, foreign minister, and defence minister, is the author of Jinnah: India – Partition – Independence.
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Australia Buys $950 Million Worth Of Military Planes From U.S.
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/271191/20111222/australia-buys-950-million-worth-military-planes.htm
International Business Times
December 22, 2011
Australia Buys $950 Million Worth of Military Planes from U.S.
By Vittorio Hernandez
Australia will purchase from the United States 10 military planes and other equipment worth $950 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency informed the U.S. Congress on Wednesday on the sales of C-27J aircraft, missile warning systems and radar.
The new acquisition is expected to help improve the air mobility and capability of the Australian Defence Force to run humanitarian and disaster relief operations in Southeast Asia.
The announcement of Washington’s approval of the sale came a month after the Australia visit of U.S. President Barack Obama who unveiled plans to send up to 2,500 American Marines to Australia where a training centre will be opened to help U.S. allies and protect American interests in Asia.
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Canberra also ordered from Washington 23 Rolls-Royce AE2100D2 engines, radios, electronic warfare equipment, portable flight mission planning systems, support and test equipment, spares, aircraft ferry and tanker support, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical data, an operational flight simulator and maintenance trainers.
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Philippines Deploys New U.S.-Provided Warship
http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=69698
Philippine Information Agency
December 26, 2011
BRP Gregorio del Pilar deploys to Palawan
ISABELA CITY, Basilan: Barko ng Republika ng Pilipinas (BRP) Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15) sailed from Manila for the province of Palawan on December 23, 2011 for her first deployment as a warship of the Philippine Navy.
The 6th Civil Relations Group of the AFP said in a press release the Weather High Endurance Cutter will augment the naval security in the Malampaya Oil Fields and in other service contract areas west of Palawan.
The military said PF-15 is the newest patrol frigate of the Philippine Navy. She has a length of 378 feet and beam of 42 feet. She can sustain a month-long mission without re-provisioning. The ship has a compliment of 18 officers and 144 enlisted personnel.
As part of Naval Forces West’s naval assets, PF-15’s primary role as a multi-mission vessel is the conduct of maritime security patrols and search and rescue missions.
PF-15 was transferred to the Philippine Navy by the U.S. Coast Guard on May 13, 2011. BRP Gregorio del Pilar was commissioned and christened into the naval service last December 14, 2011 at Pier 13 in South Harbor, Manila with His Excellency, President Benigno S. Aquino III gracing the occasion.
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December: Sixteen NATO Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan By Christmas
http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/81099,Five-Polish-soldiers-laid-to-rest-after-Taliban-attack-
Polish Radio
December 24, 2011
Five Polish soldiers laid to rest after Taliban attack
Funeral ceremonies are being held in Poland, Christmas Eve, for the five soldiers who died on Wednesday in Afghanistan after a Taliban land mine exploded under their military vehicle.
…
Senior Corporal Piotr Ciesielski, First Class Private Lukasz Krawiec, Private First Class Marcin Szczurowski, First Class Private Marek Tomala and Private Krystian Banach died when six-vehicle convoy, including Polish and American soldiers, was travelling along the main road between Kabul and Kandahar.
The attack was the deadliest against Polish forces since they began their mission as part of the international ISAF mission nine years ago.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the blast, saying ‘a Polish tank’ was blown up and all its occupants killed.
Sixteen NATO troops have been killed this month alone in Afghanistan.
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Pakistan: Human Rights Commission Rejects NATO Report On Attack
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C12%5C28%5Cstory_28-12-2011_pg7_27
Associated Press of Pakistan
December 28, 2011
IHRC rejects NATO probe into border attack
ISLAMABAD: The International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has officially rejected the findings of a US-NATO investigation into the recent attack on a border outpost.
‘There is nothing new in the report,’ said World Chairman and Ambassador at Large IHRC Dr Muhammad Shahid Amin Khan, on Tuesday and added the commission was expecting that US and NATO will conceal the real facts.
‘We had demanded fair investigations and that an official apology from the White House, Pentagon, State Department and NATO should be tendered to the Pakistan and Pakistan Army,’ he said. ‘They must acknowledge the greater contribution of Pakistan in the war against terror and efforts for lasting peace in the region. Just admitting the mistake is not enough without punishing the culprits, that hampered the efforts for peace and counter-terrorism,’ he said.
On behalf of the IHRC and international community, he said, he would like to present condolences to the Army, the brave soldiers and officials of the Pakistan Army, especially to the bereaved families of the martyred soldiers, who died during the NATO-US attack.
‘I also send a strong message on behalf of the IHRC to the US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Elizabeth Rice and the NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and demand strict action against the violations of NATO forces’, Khan said.
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Missile Radar: Turkey Arrests Anti-NATO Protesters
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/217984.html
Press TV
December 27, 2011
Turkey arrests anti-NATO protesters
Turkish police have arrested 16 protesters during a demonstration against Ankara’s plan to host a NATO missile system in the country, Press TV reports.
According to informed sources in Turkey, police attacked the demonstration in the southwestern city of Antalya on Tuesday.
The demonstrators, who were mainly high school students, issued a statement calling for ‘a free Turkey,’ the sources said.
Over the past weeks, Turkish activists in different cities across the country have held demonstrations to voice their opposition to the deployment of the system, located in the eastern province of Malatya, saying that they do not want Turkey to turn into ‘a base for the US and Israel.’
Last week, police cracked down on a demonstration held in the northwestern city of Edirne.
Ankara announced its agreement to deploy the US-made system in September and according to the Turkish media, the system will be operational next week.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that the missile system is not against any country, although commentators say that Turkey faces no missile threat from its neighbors, and did not need to accept the system.
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NATO Summit To Boost Integration Of Ukraine: Official
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/119712/
Interfax-Ukraine
December 27, 2011
Kyiv hopes NATO summit in May will help deepen Ukraine’s cooperation with alliance
Ukraine hopes that the NATO summit in Chicago in May 2012 will serve as an impetus to deepening cooperation between Kyiv and the alliance, the director of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s information policy department, Oleh Voloshyn, has said.
‘We very much hope that next year’s NATO summit in Chicago will be an impetus to the deepening of cooperation between Ukraine and the alliance,’ he said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Speaking about Ukraine’s relations with NATO, he said that the sides intensified their dialog this year.
‘Of course, we will continue to see NATO as our strategic partner in the sphere of security, reform of the armed forces, and in the sphere of tackling the consequences of emergency situations,’ Voloshyn said.
Earlier, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Tefft said in an interview with the Day newspaper that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych would be invited to the NATO summit in Chicago.
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