Tokyo: The Japanese Foreign Ministry has launched a new division to take charge of maritime security issues, such as piracy and terrorism, a move that came just weeks after Prime Minister Taro Aso expressed a positive note on sending anti-piracy ships from the Self-Defense Forces to Somalia.
"The frequent occurrence of piracy in the Asian and African regions is not just a threat to Japan's sea transportation but an issue for the whole international community," Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Kazuo Kodama said yesterday.
"Anti-piracy measures are an urgent task our government must tackle," Kodama added.
The new Maritime Security Policy Division was established under the Foreign Policy Bureau's National Security Policy Division and will be in charge of drawing up comprehensive diplomatic policies related to maritime safety, Kodama said.
The government has begun discussions on considering legislation to enable the deployment of SDF vessels to protect commercial freighter and other ships from piracy for which Aso expressed his support in mid-October.
Pirates seized a Japanese-owned freighter in July and hijacked a Japanese-operated tanker just off the coast of Somalia in August. Another Japanese-operated cargo ship was fired at by pirates also in waters off Somalia just a few days later.
