VOA常速英语2007年-Last Japanese Ship Returns from Six-Year Indian

The final Japanese navy tanker¹ has returned home from the Indian Ocean, ending a six-year mission in support of U.S. led coalition² troops in Afghanistan. As Naomi Martig reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong, the tanker's return comes amid a political deadlock³ over whether to continue the controversial mission.

The Japanese tanker was welcomed to a port in Tokyo by cheering families, a brass⁴ honor band and several senior government officials, including Defense⁵ Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Ishiba praised the Marine⁶ Self Defense Forces for what he called a "world class effort." He said the defense ministry⁷ is doing all it can to enact⁸ anti-terror legislation as soon as possible.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration brought back the two ships after the main opposition⁹ party failed to extend the navy mission past its November deadline. Opposition leaders have since refused to back legislation granting a new mandate¹⁰.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura also spoke¹¹ to the crew, promising¹² to restart the mission.

"We are determined¹³ to approve legislation on combating terror in the current Diet [Parliament] session, that would continue refueling activities [in the Indian Ocean]," he said.

The first Japanese navy ship operating in the Indian Ocean returned to a port in southwestern Japan earlier this week.

Japan began the refueling mission after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. The tankers¹⁴ were providing fuel and other logistical support to troops in Afghanistan.

The country's opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which controls the upper house of parliament, argues that the mission violates the country's pacifist constitution and that it lacks a U.N. mandate.

Japan's more powerful lower house of parliament, controlled by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has approved a resumption of the mission. The opposition, however, has pledged to block the bill. Prospects¹⁵ for the navy's return to the Indian Ocean remain uncertain.