Opposition in Japan reiterates hardline stand

Like it or not, the political development in Japan does not seem to be very promising or positive for the United States and other countries which want the Japanese navy to resume its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean as soon as possible after the acting president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Naoto Kan has reiterated that the Opposition in Japan "has no plans to compromise over legislation that would allow the country to resume a refuelling support mission for US-led operations in Afghanistan". The 'softer' DPJ president Ichiro Ozawa, who is an ex-lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has announced his resignation from the top post in the DPJ.

Japan' s Leader of Opposition offers to resign