Staff writer

The Self-Defense Forces could play a more active role in international peacekeeping and peace-building, a Canadian parliamentarian said recently in Tokyo.

Alberta Sen. Daniel Hays, chairman of the Canada-Japan Interparliamentary Group, was here from May 31 to June 4 mainly to speak with Diet members on peacekeeping and broader security issues. These talks are part of Hay's fourth annual Diet blitz.

Hays' group mirrors the Japan-Canada Friendship League headed by Lower House member Tatsuo Ozawa. The two countries alternate hosting yearly meetings between the groups seeking bilateral cooperation.

Based on Japan's tradition as the world leader in official development assistance and its support for numerous good causes, Hays said, "It seems a natural evolution of Japan's generosity that it become more involved in peacekeeping ... and it has in the Golan Heights, where it worked with Canada, and in Cambodia."

After the Gulf War, Japan sent SDF personnel overseas for the first time to engage in minesweeping operations there.

With Japan's monetary and human resources, Hays said, it will not take much to refocus training to provide a more full-scale role in appropriate situations approved by the United Nations and where Japan is asked to join.

But Hays acknowledged the main problem in realizing expanded peacekeeping efforts is due to the Constitution's war-renouncing Article 9.

Hays is interested in Japanese politicians' suggestions that Japan follow Canada's lead in establishing its own peacekeeping training center.

In 1994, the Lester B. Pearson Canadian Peacekeeping Training Center was established by the Canadian government but run independently. The center has trained more than 1,500 people from over 120 countries in modern peacekeeping methods.

In March, Japan, Canada and Malaysia cosponsored the first course on modern peacekeeping in Tokyo for members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Hays said his arguments on peacekeeping were given serious thought, but he recognizes that a willingness to discuss the issue does not mean official changes will easily follow.

"This is more missionary work," he said. "There are special public issues (regarding Japan's attitude toward peacekeeping) outsiders don't fully understand ... that I can take back to Canada along with the message that Japan is listening and thinking about peacekeeping."

Earlier this year the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party, its coalition partner, agreed to consider expanding the scope of participation in U.N. peacekeeping to allow the SDF to join missions that may involve use of force.

Moving in this direction, Japan could provide regional leadership in peacekeeping and peace-building, Hays said.

"It would be a good example of what Japan's intentions are, and a confidence builder for other Asian nations," he said.