UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 001842
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SIPDIS
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WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 04/06/06
INDEX:
(1) Jiji kokkoku column - contenders to succeed Koizumi voice
protest against Chinese President Hu's remarks
(2) US force realignment following a wild path (Part 3):
Supporters turned into opponents because of the government's lack
of advance consultation
(3) Foreign Minister Aso aims to create economy-oriented country;
Says he is responsible for dissolving income disparity
(4) LDP reacts against New Komeito's initiative in revising the
Basic Education Law; Description of "patriotism" unclear
(5) Light and shadow - Reality of five years of Koizumi politics;
Intergenerational gaps in pension benefits blocking mutual
assistance
(6) Use of space: Private sector at moment of truth
(7) Half of 12-member prion panel resigns
ARTICLES:
(1) Jiji kokkoku column - contenders to succeed Koizumi voice
protest against Chinese President Hu's remarks
ASAHI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged)
April 5, 2006
By Shinya Minamishima; Hideto Fujiwara in Beijing
"I am willing to hold top-level talks if the Japanese leader does
not visit Yasukuni Shrine." This remark by Chinese President Hu
Jintao urging the contenders to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi not to pay homage to the shrine is causing ripples across
the country. Improving relations with China will be one of the
campaign issues in the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
presidential race. Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda
has shifted his emphasis to Asia diplomacy. But the so-called
post-Koizumi candidates and other Japanese leaders are assuming a
tougher stand toward China in reaction to that country's repeated
criticism of shrine visits. At one point China appeared to be
avoiding mentioning the Yasukuni issue, so why has it now turned
around?
"It gave me the impression that he has become much more
flexible," Hidenao Nakagawa, chair of the LDP Policy Research
Council, said to an Asahi Shimbun reporter. Saying, "I can
understand his personal feeling," Nakagawa on the surface has
taken Hu's recent remarks as showing a certain level of
understanding toward the prime minister's "private visit to the
shrine."
Assuming Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe will replace Koizumi,
Nakagawa is working hard to pave the way for the successor to
Koizumi to repair relations with China. He therefore wants to
take Hu's remarks as positively as possible, but in his heart he
appears to have mixed feelings.
An aide to Nakagawa argued: "None of the so-called post-Koizumi
candidates can declare, 'I won't visit Yasukuni.' (Hu's) remarks
TOKYO 00001842 002 OF 011
will have the opposite effect. President Hu has made a mistake."
It was not long before the opposite effect emerged. Reacting to
Fu's remarks, Abe told a press conference on April 3: "I can't
accept (President Hu's assertions)." Foreign Minister Aso as well
used strong language in criticizing (China) at a press briefing
yesterday: "(China's) approach is beyond our understanding."
Finance Minister Tanigaki also stated, "It's important for us to
be able to have discussion if a dispute arises. Refusing to meet
is a problem."
How to mend fences with China will be a key campaign issue in the
presidential race. But declaring "I won't visit the shrine" in
response to Hu's statement could be viewed as giving in to
pressure from China. Workable options for improving relations
with China seem limited.
Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai)
Chairman Kakutaro Kitashiro told a press conference yesterday:
"Stopping the shrine visits would become even more difficult once
this turns into a political issue. People would question whether
the person avoided making shrine visits in response to China's
call. I think it is regrettable that President Hu made such
remarks."
One Japanese lawmaker who had been present in the meeting
(between Hu and the heads of seven Japanese groups) explained:
"President Hu would like to somehow improve relations with Japan.
But he is in a situation that requires him to mention (the
Yasukuni issue). I think it is regrettable to see the Japanese
government and influential lawmakers critically comment on his
words."
Main points from President Hu's remarks
China-Japan relations have been faced with a difficult situation
in recent years, which is something I do not want to see. Neither
China nor the Japanese people are responsible for that. The cause
lies with a few Japanese leaders who have repeatedly visited
Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Class-A war criminals. I am ready
to hold top-level talks if Japanese leaders stop visiting the
shine. I regard shrine visits by representatives of the Japanese
government as part of government policy. I can understand
personal feelings, but I hope to see the sentiments of a victim
nation respected.
China intended to highlight friendship but changed its mind after
much debate due to Koizumi's statement just before Hu's speech
"President Hu made clear the Chinese government's stance on
progress in China-Japan relations," the Chinese Foreign Ministry
Spokesperson Liu Jianchao said at a regular press briefing on
April 4 in referrence to the president's meeting with the heads
of seven Japan-China friendship organizations.
Chinese officials had continued discussions until just before the
meeting about whether to bring up the Yasukuni issue in Hu's
speech.
At the beginning, officials well-versed in relations with Japan
had been drafting Hu's speech in a way to highlight friendship
and exchange but not to mention the Yasukuni issue.
TOKYO 00001842 003 OF 011
However, the draft encountered a number of objections while being
circulated from the Foreign Ministry to influential officials,
including State Councilor for Foreign Affairs Tang Jiaxuan, with
one official arguing: "The Yasukuni issue can't be avoided, for
it is the major sticking point in China-Japan relations in the
political area. This is a fundamental principle." In addition to
this, Prime Minister Koizumi's remarks made at a press conference
on March 27, in which he said, "I can't understand why they
assert they can't hold high-level talks because of my visits to
Yasukuni Shrine," made it definite that the Yasukuni issue should
be referred to in Hu's speech.
Many working-level Chinese officials knowledgeable about Japanese
public opinion were strongly concerned that a reference to the
Yasukuni issue would incur a backlash from the Japanese side. But
this concern never reached the high-level officials. "Even in
Japan, it would be impossible for junior officials to advise
their seniors," a researcher of Japan-China relations remarked.
The Chinese leadership tried to show its people its willingness
to improve relations with Japan. The Chinese Communist Party's
paper, the People's Daily, reported on the meeting between
President Hu and the heads of seven Japanese groups top on the
front page, giving the headline "Talks wrapped up in friendly
atmosphere."
In the same meeting, Hu also stated, "The Japanese people are not
to be blamed for the worsened China-Japan relations," and "China
hopes they will help China to move forward," in signaling his
message to the Japanese public, but this message became less
noticeable owing to his mention of the Yasukuni issue, some
Chinese officials pointed out regretfully.
(2) US force realignment following a wild path (Part 3):
Supporters turned into opponents because of the government's lack
of advance consultation
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 26) (Abridged)
April 4, 2006
Foreign Minister Taro Aso toured a US base in Kanagawa Prefecture
on December 16, 2005. The foreign minister later called on Zama
Mayor Katsuji Hoshino at the municipal government office.
When the topic turned to the proposed relocation of the US Army
1st Corps headquarters to Camp Zama straddling Zama and
Sagamihara, Hoshino said, "We will consider it if we can get 1
trillion yen in return." This enormous amount of money reflected
Hoshino's determination to reject the transfer.
Hoshino is a conservative local politician. He often took part in
events to promote friendship between the US base and local
communities. He was regarded as tolerant of the relocation plan.
Camp Zama covers an area of 62 hectares. Of it, only one-seventh
goes into Zama, which has not suffered any visible damage from
the base.
But the city was turned upside down by a US force realignment
interim report that specified the transfer of the US Army 1st
Corps to Camp Zama.
On March 11, over 1,000 residents staged a protest around Camp
Zama. Hoshino became the city's first mayor to lead such a
TOKYO 00001842 004 OF 011
demonstration, according to the city's liaison division.
Protests stem from local distrust of the way the government has
handled the US force realignment issue. Hoshino had repeatedly
asked the government if a new Army command would be established
at Camp Zama more than a year before the interim report was
produced. In response, the government always said, "We haven't
discussed anything specific." Hoshino was fed up with the
government's response.
"If the government had consulted with local authorities
beforehand, things would not have been tangled to this extent," a
person close to Hoshino said. The government has offered vague
explanations to Zama since Tokyo and Washington produced the
interim report last October.
In stationing Self-Defense Force troops at Camp Zama in 1971,
Zama Town (currently Zama City) and the Yokohama District Defense
Facilities Administration Bureau chief signed a memorandum of
understanding vowing to make maximum efforts to reduce the base.
A local resident curtly said, "The relocation of the 1st Corps
command to Camp Zama runs counter to the MOU." But the government
has simply reiterated, "We will make ardent efforts based on the
spirit of the MOU."
Some city officials have begun indicating that the city should
start thinking of how to settle the issue. But Hoshimo has been
urging the government to present a concrete philosophy and vision
not to make US bases permanent fixtures in Japan.
Zama is not the only municipality that is reacting furiously to
the planned US force realignment, abandoning its receptiveness.
Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, conducted a plebiscite on March 12
in which 43,000 residents -- over 50% of all voters -- said "no"
to the transfer of a carrier-borne aircraft unit from the Atsugi
base to the air station in the city.
Reportedly, local concerns about night landing practice (NLP)
affected voting.
In September 2000, bad weather around Iwojima forced the US Navy
to conduct NLP at the Iwakuni base.
The Iwakuni municipal office received over 140 complaints about
the two days of NLP that produced deafening noise.
The government explained that when the runway is moved 1
kilometer further offshore in fiscal 2008, noise would be reduced
to one-third of the current level, adding that NLP would be
carried out on Iwojima. But local residents are still
apprehensive. Iwakuni City Assemblyman Jungen Tamura said, "If
pressed hard by the US military, the central government may allow
it to conduct NLP at the Iwakuni base."
The government's explanations to base-hosting municipalities have
clearly been insufficient. "The responsibility for national
security rests exclusively with the central government," a
Defense Agency official noted. Many agency officials also believe
that there is no need to obtain local consent. Their arrogance
has turned even those who were receptive of base issues into
opponents.
TOKYO 00001842 005 OF 011
(3) Foreign Minister Aso aims to create economy-oriented country;
Says he is responsible for dissolving income disparity
ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts)
April 4, 2006
Reporters asked Foreign Minister Abe about differences in the
policy stances of Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a rival of
his in the race to succeed Prime Minister Koizumi, and himself.
Aso replied in his usual rough language: "Differences between Abe
and me? I suppose we are different in our economic policies." In
view of the fact that the remark was made shortly after he
returned home, after fulfilling a major diplomatic role in a
strategic dialogue with his US and Australian counterparts in
Sydney, Australia, this was a well-calculated reply intended to
demonstrate that he is an economic expert.
He made a speech titled "Creating a New Era" in Sapporo on April