SENIOR-LEVEL DEMARCHE ON COUNTRY RESOLUTIONS:

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 006470 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2016 TAGS: PHUM PREL UNHRC JA SUBJECT: SENIOR-LEVEL DEMARCHE ON COUNTRY RESOLUTIONS: JAPAN SUPPORTIVE REF: STATE 184178 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor W. Michael Meserve. Reason: 1.4 (b)(d). ¶1. (C) Political Section Deputy conveyed reftel demarche November 9 to MOFA Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Division Principle Deputy Director Yoriko Suzuki. Ms. Suzuki responded later that day, noting that Japan did not yet have much information on Iran's resolution against Canada, but gathered that it was politically loaded and was not the kind of resolution that Japan would support. On the issue of no-action motions, she explained that Japan, in principle, opposes them because they shut down discussion. Japan "is totally against them," she stated. ¶2. (C) MOFA had not seen the text of the Belarus resolution against the United States, but was "very concerned about it," Ms. Suzuki said. MOFA would need to see the text before making a final decision. Judging from what she knew about it, however, Ms. Suzuki predicted that Japan would support the U.S. position. ¶3. (C) Ms. Suzuki concluded the conversation by underscoring that Japan broadly shares the same view as the United States on the these resolutions, because our two countries share the same values. She was confident that Japan would support the U.S. position. SCHIEFFER