PDUSD RYAN HENRY,S SEPTEMBER 25 MEETING WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 005707 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2016 TAGS: MARR PGOV PREL PTER CH KN IZ AF AS JA SUBJECT: PDUSD RYAN HENRY,S SEPTEMBER 25 MEETING WITH DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER NISHIDA Classified By: Charge d' Affaires, a.i. Joe Donovan. Reasons 1.4 (b, d ). ¶1. (C) Summary: In a September 25 meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Nishida told Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Henry that U.S. involvement on China and North Korea is critical to maintaining stability in the region. Henry agreed that managing our relationship with China is very important and suggested possible reasons for China's lack of transparency. Nishida and Henry discussed Japan's contribution to the war on terror, Japanese humanitarian activities in Iraq, and the need to improve military cooperation. Henry requested Japanese assistance on the Afghanistan Ring Road project to which Nishida provided Japan's way ahead. End summary. ¶2. (C) Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Ryan Henry met with Deputy Foreign Minister Nishida on September 25, 2006 to discuss bilateral relations, North Korea, China, and Japan's contribution to the war on terror. Prime Minister Koizumi has an excellent relationship with President Bush, Nishida noted. Under the Koizumi administration, Japan sent troops to Iraq, participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, and provided airlift assistance in the Middle East. He thanked Henry for close U.S. cooperation with all of these missions. Japan is particularly grateful for assistance during the July North Korean missile launches, especially on intelligence cooperation and the UNSC resolution. ¶3. (C) U.S. involvement on China and North Korea will continue to be very important to maintaining stability in the region, said Nishida. He had participated in the first Japan-China security talks in a long time this past July in Beijing, he said, adding that similar talks need to be held regularly in the future. Henry agreed that Japan and the United States need to work together to resolve transnational threats. Adaptability will be key to responding to global challenges, he stressed, including pandemics. ¶4. (C) Managing our relationship with China is important to Secretary Rumsfeld, said Henry. China's lack of transparency SIPDIS is a problem, he remarked. One reason China is so reluctant to disclose information on its military may be China's lack of combat readiness coupled with its inability to improvise �A;and respond to changing environments. A key concern is that China might believe its military is stronger than it actually is. China might be underestimating the U.S. military and the strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance. We need to show China there is nothing to fear by being open, he said. ¶5. (C) Nishida confided that a worst-case scenario for Japan would be a Chinese economic crisis. Using the sinking of the Titanic as an analogy, he said if the Chinese economy sinks, it will not go down alone but will take a lot of others with it. Turning to North Korea, Nishida noted that September 19 marked the anniversary of the Six-Party Talks joint statement and lamented the lack of progress. Henry agreed Japan and the United States must continue to work together on this issue. ¶6. (C) The U.S.- Japanese-Australian trilateral strategic dialogue has been a beneficial experience for Japan, stated Nishida. Moreover, Japan's Self-Defense Forces are better prepared following their mission in Iraq. Japan appreciates the close coordination between Canberra and Washington in support of Japan's humanitarian activities there. ¶7. (C) Japan and the United States need to increase efforts to create "cores of excellence" and interdependent and complementary military forces to reduce redundancy and better utilize scarce financial resources, explained Henry. Henry told Nishida the United States greatly appreciates Japan's contribution to fighting the war on terror and is grateful for Japan's C-130 support in Iraq and refueling operations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In Afghanistan, however, the United States is fighting a war we cannot win via TOKYO 00005707 002 OF 002 military force alone. Nishida agreed that a flourishing civil society and viable market economy are indicators of success in Afghanistan. ¶8. (C) Responding to PDUSD Henry's appeal that Japan accelerate work on the Kandahar-Herat segment of the Afghanistan Ring Road project, Nishida explained that security is still a huge obstacle. Prime Minister Koizumi recently visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and Tokyo is paying more attention to the Central Asia region, in general, he noted. The Ring Road is a very important project, he acknowledged, and Japan has contributed a large amount of official development assistance to aid the project. The security situation, however, prohibits Japan from moving forward. Japan will continue to try to finalize a contract this month with an Indian construction company that has experience in Afghanistan. If this fails, Tokyo will ask the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan for assistance in locating an alternative company. He emphasized that he will keep Washington informed, noting that, for success, collaboration will be necessary not only from Washington, but also from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Henry said that given the right amount of commitment there was a high probability of success and thanked Japan for its contribution. DONOVAN