GEN Iwata Speech Draft at CA EX 2014 - JGSDF efforts for stabilization of the Asia-Pacific Region - General Morrison, Chief of the Australian Army, and distinguished guests gathered here today, [Introduction] First, I would like you to know that it is my greatest honor to have this opportunity to address you all as a guest speaker here today. I am also grateful to David and the entire Australian Army for inviting me to such a prominent exercise. I do appreciate the significance of this exercise as a key opportunity for army chiefs from all around the region to gather at a multinational round table and discuss common issues and challenges. So, before I get going, I would like to express my deepest esteem once again for this great endeavor made by the Australian Army. Please let me say that I am not paying an empty compliment here. I am standing here today because I am eager to share recognition with you of the importance of international cooperation under multilateralism, in which this exercise presents a perfect example. So, I would like to set forth my idea on how Japan Ground Self-Defense Force should commit itself to the stabilization of the Asia-Pacific region along with 1
other countries land forces as our regional partners in this framework of multilateralism. [Overview of the Region and the security challenges] Now, Indo-Pacific has been a common factor in the themes of the first and second sessions. This region is comprised of the vast sea area of the Pacific Ocean extending across one third of the entire globe s surface and the numerous islands scattered around this vast ocean. So, what is the word best describing this region? I would say the very essential nature of this region lies in diversity itself. This region has been a gigantic hub of growth. It is also because of this diversity, I would say. And there, in this region, where growth and vitality are to be sustained and boosted further, it is our collective duties, our land forces responsibilities, to secure peace and stability in order to provide a solid foundation for a free and dynamic regional economy. However, in this region of diversity, it is also the truth that we have both traditional and nontraditional security challenges now surfacing and perhaps intensifying. Even though the cold war ended a long time ago, confrontations between sovereign states are still ongoing issues due to various factors. As for nontraditional security challenges, there is no other region under consistent threat of natural disasters such as earthquake, tsunami, typhoon and so 2
on. Large-scale disasters are by their nature destabilizing and inhibiting the prosperity of the region. Therefore the need for rapid reactions and remedies has increased more than ever. As you all know too well, Typhoon Yolanda at the end of the last year inflicted extremely severe damage on the Philippines and the other states on its path. In response to this contingency, the Japan Self-Defense Force organized a joint task force with approximately one-thousand one-hundred and seventy personnel to conduct humanitarian support and rescue activities in this international disaster relief operation. Most notable in this operation, however, was probably the installation of a multi-national coordination center in a camp of Philippine Army, where all the information on relief operations was gathered and shared with the representatives of thirteen countries which had rushed there to help. This act of multilateralism exemplified by the activities at the multinational coordination center is what I think of as the key for the solution to many problems existing in our region into the future. Of course, in times of such large-scale disasters it is only right and proper that forces from multiple countries should work together. What I am trying to say here is how important it is for us to cooperate in peacetime within a multilateral framework so that we can operate smoothly and fluently in actual contingencies. 3
[JGSDF peacetime efforts based on multilateralism] Giving consideration to both traditional and non-traditional challenges in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan, for the first time ever in our history, formulated our National Security Strategy last December. The core of this strategy is proactive contribution to peace based on international cooperation. Also, on the same day, the Ministry of Defense announced the National Defense Program Guidelines 2014 for the transformation of the Japan Self Defense Forces into a Dynamic Joint Defense Force which is to provide rapid and seamless responses to wide range of contingencies. In the National Security Strategy, strengthening partnerships with other countries in diplomatic and security cooperation is defined as one of our primary approaches to achieve national objectives to contribute to international peace and stability. In order to realize these approaches, the strategy further declares itself to be promoting multilateral cooperative frameworks such as the Asia Regional Forum and Asia Defense Ministers Meeting Plus, which are also function-oriented and multi-layered. Meanwhile, in the National Defense Program Guidelines, stabilization of Asia-Pacific region and improvement of global security environment have been given as the mission of our defense power. In order to achieve goals in this mission, key tasks are articulated as active engagement in bilateral and 4
multilateral exercises, promotion of defense cooperation and exchanges, sponsoring capacity-building support and participation in international peace-cooperation activities. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force is, in turn, engaging in actualization of these government s policies in the forefront of national security. Taking this opportunity, I would like to introduce some of the projects as examples of our efforts. For humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the JGSDF has been hosting the Multinational Cooperation in Asia-Pacific Program or MCAP every year since 2002. In this program, we provide a multinational roundtable forum for participants from twenty or more countries to discuss common issues within the region. In recent MCAPs, we have continued productive discussions pursuing the possibility of international rule-making during peacetime, such as multinational standing operation procedures. Incidentally, Japan will be the co-host of HA/DR subject-matter experts meeting in ADMM Plus with Laos in the next three years. Taking advantage of this great opportunity, we are planning to make a contribution from a land force s perspective to this ministry-level effort by transplanting positive outcomes of the MCAPs into the discussion of the subject-matter experts meeting. In the specific domain of logistic support, the JGSDF has also been hosting Multilateral Logistics Staff Talks or MLST from 1997 inviting working staff 5
officers in the field of logistics from numerous countries. In this conference, we have continued our effort to materialize and enrich the Multinational Logistics Handbook for HA/DR operations since 2007. Through creating a reference for multilateral cooperation between logistic staffs from different countries, we believe this can be considered as one of the contributions to international rule-making. In regard to United Nation s peace-keeping operations, the JGSDF has undertaken the responsibility of the host nation for the engineer subcommittee in the United Nations force manual drafting committee. We invited fourteen countries and three international organizations to its initial meeting in Tokyo last March and discussed how we should orient the drafting of the engineer units manual. This derives from our desire for enhanced contribution to UN peace-keeping operations. We wish to do this by, where possible, standardizing quality-oriented operations. We plan to achieve this through plowing back the fruits of our lessons learned from past peace-keeping operations in which JGSDF has accumulated ample overseas experience. In the field of capacity building support, the JGSDF has already initiated several projects in Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Mongolia and other countries as a part of peacetime stabilization efforts in the region. Here to do we also try to contribute by sharing lessons and experiences from our past HA/DR and peace-keeping operations. 6
Together with the United States, Australia, New Zealand and other leading countries, we are motivated to expand our project into other partner countries such as Vietnam, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. While continuing these efforts to improve our skills and capabilities in HA/DR and peace-keeping operations, the JGSDF also has committed itself to numerous multinational exercises in order to build mutual confidence and partnerships with other countries. These are; Khaan Quest, Cobra Gold, Pacific Partnership, ADMM Plus Exercise to name just a few. All of these are conducted in a multilateral framework, and, at the same time, are examples of the success in efforts to establish a cooperation mechanism in peacetime. In my opinion, mechanisms like this established in peacetime are now almost a synonym for a common rule maintained by participating forces. [Importance of the multilateralism] So far, I have enumerated the examples of multilateralism. I think, now a question arises among you, Is multilateralism really effective? With confidence, I would say yes for the following two reasons. The first reason is that a multilateral cooperative framework established in peacetime has already proven to be effective in addressing those challenges which Asia-Pacific region is facing, such as HA/DR and peace-keeping operations. 7
During operations in response to Typhoon Yolanda last year, those who had experience of participation in MCAPs hosted by the JGSDF were indeed active at the multinational coordination center. Because they had developed their expertise in multilateral coordination mechanisms through active discussion in MCAPs, they were enabled to be one of the main driving forces in running this coordination center. In addition, the personal networks of logistic working staffs formed and cultivated during MLSTs were also very effective in sharing information and breaking down communication barriers. Therefore it is our belief that the shared rules and personal relationships being established through MCAPs and MLSTs will contribute to smoother operations between us now and into the future. The second reason I would like to put forward is that the promotion of multilateral cooperation has profound meaning in itself. Multilateral cooperation when practiced stimulates the development of specific rules at the operational front of land forces. Accumulation of these rules will eventually lead to the establishment of an order in the region. Forming a regional order through multilateralism, mutual confidence built by cooperation itself and habit of cooperation acquired through multilateral cooperation as the norm all of these help to ease occasional tensions and mitigate the risks of the outbreak of conflicts. I think we all as military professionals consider compliance with international law 8
to be a matter of course. Respecting the regional order by compliance with shared rules is, to my mind, in exactly the same spirit as the observance of international law. [Conclusion] For sixty-nine years since the end of World War II, Japan has never deviated from the track of a nation that prioritizes peace above all else. The JGSDF celebrating its sixtieth anniversary this year has kept the same track. It is my biggest pride that the JGSDF, at its culmination of sixty-year history, has made and will be making a real contribution to the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region in the ways I have outlined today, as the necessity and importance of multilateral approaches has increased ever to both traditional and non-traditional security challenges. Looking forward into the future, I assure you all that the JGSDF will not only continue our pre-existing approaches but also take the initiative in the improvement of effectiveness in multilateralism by land forces. Finally, hoping to have warm understanding and friendly cooperation from you all, I would like to conclude my speech. Thank you very much. 9