Photo/Illutration A Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel, foreground, shadows a Chinese coast guard ship in waters near the Senkaku Islands. (Provided by Japan Coast Guard)

If the Self-Defense Forces and Japan Coast Guard (JCG) cannot cooperate effectively during a security crisis, neither can properly perform their respective roles.

It is therefore crucial to develop plans and establish rules for such cooperation in advance.

But it would be counterproductive if the JCG is viewed as a military organization and becomes a target of attack. A clear line must be maintained between the roles and responsibilities of the two organizations.

The JCG is a part of the transport ministry and, as the “police of the sea,” responsible for security on the sea, safeguarding Japan’s territorial waters and conducting rescue operations in maritime accidents.

When Japan comes under an armed attack and the SDF is mobilized to defend the nation, the JCG will come under the command of the defense minister, according to Article 80 of the SDF law.

This provision has been in place since the SDF was established, but there were no specific rules and protocols concerning this step.

In a move related to a major revision to the National Security Strategy at the end of last year that called for enhancing coordination and cooperation between the two organizations, the government announced the first guidelines for implementing the provision at the end of April.

According to the guidelines, formal Cabinet approval is required to place the JCG under the defense minister’s command, which will be executed through the JCG’s commandant.

The SDF will focus on battles, while the JCG will engage in such activities as evacuations of local residents and life-saving operations at sea. The government stresses that the JCG’s missions and powers in such a situation will not differ from those during peacetime.

The JCG will never be integrated with the SDF or become a semi-military organization, it contends.

This policy is based on Article 25 of the JCG law, which does not allow the JCG or its personnel to be “organized or trained as an armed force nor perform the functions of an armed force.”

Some lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party call for revising this article to upgrade both the JCG’s weapons and its powers to use them. But the government has made the right decision by maintaining a clear line between the roles and responsibilities of the two organizations.

The government also says the JCG will not operate in any combat zone. But it will be difficult to distinguish between combat and non-combat areas during a security emergency with the rapidly evolving and changing situation.

The SDF and the JCG plan to conduct tabletop exercises to simulate an armed conflict involving Japan in May and field drills in June.

They need to learn useful lessons from the exercises and analyses of the results with regard to all aspects of their operations in such a situation, including intelligence gathering, decision making and communications. 

China almost daily sends coast guard vessels into waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture and frequently intrudes into Japanese territorial waters around the islands.

The ships have become larger and are now equipped with heavy weapons. JCG ships patrolling in these waters around the clock often find themselves in tense face-offs with Chinese vessels.

The government has decided to increase the budget for the JCG to build more large ships. But it should not forget that the JCG, a nonmilitary organization, has been working as a “buffer” to prevent tense situations in the area from escalating into armed conflict.

The government needs to maintain the clear division of roles between the JCG and the SDF to avoid undermining the JCG’s important functions.

Arming the JCG with weapons that are more powerful than needed by a law enforcement entity or creating the impression that the JCG plays a vital part of the SDF’s role would only undermine this advantage, which has been built over years.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 11

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