Thursday August 9, 11:14 AM(Kyodo) _ Japanese Defense Minister Yuriko Koike vowed efforts Wednesday to extend a law for its Maritime Self-Defense Force ships to continue refueling U.S.-led coalition forces in the Indian Ocean in support of the antiterrorism drive in Afghanistan.
Photo: Japanese defense Minister Yuriko Koike (L) and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage pose for a photo after their talks at a Washington hotel on Aug. 8.She made the remark to reporters after emerging from a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. It was her first U.S. visit since she took up the defense portfolio last month.
Koike told Gates Japan intends to continue the fight against terrorism, she told reporters.
Gates said the United States appreciates the fact that Japan has made active contributions to such efforts.
The legislation was enacted following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The two-year law has been extended three times to allow Japan to send MSDF vessels to the Indian Ocean to provide fuel to multinational forces in antiterrorism operations there.
Earlier in the day in Tokyo, Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa rejected a request by U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer to agree to extending the law beyond its Nov. 1 expiration.
The DPJ became the largest party in the House of Councillors as a result of the July 29 upper house election.
Koike criticized Ozawa, saying he is repeating the same remarks as those he had made around the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s.
"His calendar seems to have stopped," Koike told reporters when asked about the DPJ's opposition to the extension of the antiterrorism law.
Koike told Gates the Japanese government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will seek to get the antiterrorism law enacted during an extraordinary session of parliament to be convened this fall, she said.
On U.S. concerns about a possible leak of sensitive U.S. technology stemming from the recent leakage of information involving highly confidential data on the Aegis defense system, Koike explained the Japanese government is considering measures to stem such an incident, including the establishment of a new organization.
Koike described preventing information leaks as "one of the most important tasks" facing the SDF during her talks with Gates, she said.
Koike met later Wednesday with Vice President Dick Cheney and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
Armitage expressed anxiety that a halt to the refueling operation in the Indian Ocean may hamper the Japan-U.S. alliance and regional cooperation, according to Japanese officials.
Cheney appreciated Japan's contributions in the operation.
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