中国に対抗、南太平洋キリバスに大使館を設置へ…ニューカレドニアには領事事務所 : 政治 : ニュース : 読売新聞オンライン
以前、「数年内に」と佐藤正久議員から発表されていたキリバスに大使館、ニューカレドニアに領事館の計画は、年内にということに決まったらしい。それだけインド太平洋の安全保障が急務でるということであろう。
この地域を30年追っている私には「遅い」という感触だが何もしないよりよいし、応援したい。何よりも今から14年前の2008年にミクロネシア海洋安全保障事業を一人で立ち上げた自分にとっては感慨深い。これは繰り返し書きたい。ミクロネシア海洋安全保障事業は笹川陽平も日本財団も、海上保安庁も一切立ち上げに関与していない。彼らはミクロネシアのことも太平洋のことも、海洋安全保障のことも何も知らないのだ。ここを強調して書くのは何も知らない人たちが大金を持って事業を動かすとミャンマーのような悲惨な状態になるからだ。
さて、新しくできる公館のは駐在武官は必須である。外務省のお花畑状態は、ここに書いてきているが、任せてはいけないのだ。一つ例を示そう。私が水産庁監視艇をパラオに派遣すべく動いていた時だ。当初反対していたのは外務省と法務省。その後昨年亡くなられた外務省の和田大洋州課課長が動いて前に進んだ。
外務省職員は 「パラオが日本の海洋安全保障を協力することは考えられないので、その逆もあり得ないのです。」と言われた。
外務省大丈夫か？ 日本がパラオのように人口2万人しかいなければ自力での安全保障はあり得ない。友好国との協定は必須だ。
これが「外務」省の実態である。
The plan for an embassy in Kiribati and a consulate in New Caledonia, which Mr. Masahisa Sato, a member of the parliament, had previously announced would be completed within a few years, has apparently been decided upon. That is how urgent the need for security in the Indo-Pacific region is.
As someone who has been following this region for 30 years, I feel that it is too late. However, it is better than nothing, and I would like to support it. For me, it is deeply moving, as I launched the Micronesian Maritime Security Project by myself 14 years ago in 2008. I would like to repeat this. Neither Yohei Sasakawa, the Nippon Foundation, nor the Japan Coast Guard had anything to do with the establishment of the Micronesia Maritime Security Project. They know nothing about Micronesia, the Pacific, or maritime security. The reason I emphasize this point is that if people who don't know anything about the subject were to take over the project with large sums of money, the situation would be as tragic as in Myanmar.
Now, the new diplomatic mission must have a military attaché. I have already written about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' lackadaisical attitude here, and we should not leave it to them. Let me give you an example: I was working to dispatch a surveillance boat to Palau. At first, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice were against it. Then, Mr. Wada, Director of the Oceania Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who passed away last year, took action and we moved forward.
An official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "It is inconceivable that Palau would cooperate with Japan's maritime security, and vice versa. I was told.
Is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs okay? If Japan has a population of only 20,000 like Palau, there is no way it can provide security on its own. An agreement with a friendly country is a must.
This is the reality of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
