MEDIA REACTION CHINA - TOKYO

UNCLAS TOKYO 002922 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR, EAP/J, EAP/P, PM; USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI; SECDEF FOR OASD/PA; CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION CHINA - TOKYO LEAD STORIES: Friday morning's business daily Nihon Keizai front-paged PM Koizumi's speech Thursday in Tokyo in which he expressed his eagerness to conclude economic partnership agreements with other Asian nations. ¶1. "China's Military Power: The Dangers of an Expansion That Upsets the Balance" An editorial in the conservative Sankei commented (5/26): "The Pentagon's 2006 annual report on China's military development expressed greater concern than last year's over the expansion of Beijing's military power and its aims.... Japan needs to pay closer attention to China's opaque military buildup, as it has a major impact on the nation's security, territorial integrity, diplomacy, and economy.... In this report, the DOD expressed increasing concern that Taiwan is losing its long-standing military advantage over China.... The Pentagon report also noted that China's military buildup would raise tensions with Japan and Southeast Asian nations, with Beijing becoming a military rival of the US in the long term.... So long as Beijing's motivations and policy-making process are unclear, other nations will understandably take measures to hedge against the Chinese military threat." SCHIEFFER