A senior Japanese ruling party official on Sunday called for a "careful" decision regarding the deployment of Self-Defense Forces to the conflict-stricken Middle East for the escort of ships to ensure safe passage.Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi said during a TV program that he will "not exclude the possibility (of escorting) from a legal standpoint," but the deployment would be "an extremely high hurdle."Under the Self-Defense Forces Act, the government can order the SDF members to accompany Japan-related ships for protection as a maritime security operation, permi…READ FULL ARTICLE
