Japan Might Pay for Gulf Ship Defense

Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone today left open the possibility of providing Japanese money for international efforts to ensure the safety of Persian Gulf shipping.

Asked whether Japan would provide such aid, he told reporters: “We want to see what specifically Japan will do by watching what sort of shape such a scheme will begin to take in the Venice summit.”

Last week, Nakasone appeared to rule out anything other than diplomatic support when he said Japan could supply neither men nor money to help keep the gulf safe from Iranian or Iraqi military attack.

“What we must do, before anything else, is to engage in diplomatic efforts, peaceful and non-military,” Nakasone said today.

But he added: “We are fully aware that Japan is one of the major beneficiaries of that safety.”

60% of Oil From Gulf

Japan imports 60% of its crude oil--about 2 million barrels a day--through the narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the gulf.

President Reagan has announced plans to step up the U.S. naval presence in the gulf to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers from attack by combatants in the Iran-Iraq war.

Some U.S. congressmen, already angry over Japan’s huge trade surplus, have opposed the move.