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

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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

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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
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

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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