JAPAN'S RESPONSE TO U.S. PROPOSAL TO EXPAND AND

UNCLAS TOKYO 002094 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM PREL ETTC KNNP CBW TRGY GM JA RS CACM, UK, FR SUBJECT: JAPAN'S RESPONSE TO U.S. PROPOSAL TO EXPAND AND EXTEND THE G8 GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP REF: SECSTATE 60919 ¶1. EST Minster-Counselor met with her counterpart, Ambassador Takeshi Nakane, Director-General, Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department on May 10, 2007, to discuss reftel points. Ambassador Nakane stated that Japan shares the view that the global WMD threat will not go away and expansion of the geographic scope of the agreement is a necessity. However, he indicated that an increase in Japan's financial commitment requires further deliberation. Ambassador Nakane pointed out that most of the money Japan provided to the G-8 Global Partnership has yet to be disbursed, partly because of Russia's uncooperative behavior. He added that only 3 percent of Japan's contribution has been disbursed, and that the same was true for other donors. In fact, he commented that there is still a lot of money in the pot that he convinced his Ministry of Finance to set aside in ¶1993. Therefore, he saw no chance that the Ministry would look favorably on an additional request. EST MC pointed out that the USG is looking at the long term and wants to make sure that the program is continued past its 2012 deadline. ¶2. Ambassador Nakane said he would take this issue up with ISN DAS to Andrew Semmel in Berlin on Monday, May 14, 2007 to determine how best to proceed. DONOVAN