The Defense Ministry on March 13 disclosed daily reports prepared by a Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) unit stationed in South Sudan for U.N. peacekeeping operations (PKO) for the period from June 2 to Sept. 10, 2016.
The GSDF unit listed an "area controlled by anti-government forces" in its daily reports compiled from June 2 to June 26, 2016 -- before government forces clashed hard with anti-government forces.
On the question of whether a rebel-held territory has actually been established in South Sudan, the Japanese government explained, "We make judgment by comprehensively taking into consideration the scale, period, effectiveness, etc. of their control." The government had said that there was no area controlled by anti-government forces in South Sudan and that therefore anti-government forces were not warring parties. If anti-government forces become warring parties, that means there is no cease-fire agreement between the warring parties and thus Japan's five principles for participation in peacekeeping operations cannot be fulfilled.
Read the full story at The Mainichi
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PacificSentinel: I don't have a clue how the Japanese soldiers do their job, they have to work under such a confusingly convoluted system.