IS GOVT RETURNING TO 'CHECKBOOK DIPLOMACY'? (The Daily Yomiuri as translated from the Yomiuri Shimbun)
The administration led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has drawn up measures to help reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
The administration has decided to extend civilian assistance worth 5 billion dollars (about 450 billion yen) over five years for such measures as job training for former Taliban militants and the provision of funds to pay the salaries of Afghan police officers. Calculated in terms of the aid provided per fiscal year, this sum represents about four times the average aid provided up until now.
However, the government stopped short of including the sending of Self-Defense Forces personnel in its measures.
The government is also planning to suspend the SDF's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in January, when the law authorizing the mission expires.
Without SDF participation in antiterrorism activities related to Afghanistan, the government will inevitably face criticism that the country has once again resorted to the so-called checkbook diplomacy approach, in which it provides economic aid and investment but no security personnel.
The 5 billion dollars assistance will be extended to the war-torn country in the form of grant aid or through international organizations. The public will want the government to give a satisfactorily detailed explanation of how the funds will be spent. It also will be important for the government to implement the aid package while verifying its effectiveness.
At the time of the Gulf War, the administration of then Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu decided not to send SDF officers to the region and instead provided only economic aid, drawing international criticism for Japan's checkbook diplomacy. The government should recall this bitter memory.
As the MSDF's refueling activity in the Indian Ocean has been highly evaluated by the international community, Japan will lose a lot of goodwill by ending the mission. What Hatoyama should do is to seek ways of continuing the mission. (Nov. 11)
