LOWER HOUSE SPEAKER KONO ON DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 003038



SIPDIS



SIPDIS



E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2017

TAGS: PGOV, PREL, JA

SUBJECT: LOWER HOUSE SPEAKER KONO ON DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN

POLICY ISSUES





Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer, Reasons 1.4 b/d



1. (C) Summary. Lower House Speaker Yohei Kono believes

pensions will be the biggest issue in the upcoming Upper

House election, and is worried more about Komeito leaving the

coalition than whether the LDP loses seats. Kono is critical

of PM Abe's approach on collective defense, as well as Abe's

foreign policy in general. Kono advocates less emphasis on

security issues in the U.S.-Japan relationship and more work

on global issues. End Summary.



Upper House Election

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2. (C) Speaker of the Lower House of the Diet Yohei Kono told

Political Minister-Counselor Meserve recently that the

pension controversy would be the predominant issue in the

upcoming Upper House elections. As the ruling party, the

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is expected to receive much of

the blame, he noted. The extent to which the issue might

lead to LDP election losses depended on how well the LDP can

explain the issue to the public and present remedial

measures. Kono added that the Democratic Party of Japan

(DPJ) was not presenting any specific solution to the problem.



3. (C) Kono pointed out that the LDP currently holds more

seats in the Upper House than has been the case in the past.

Kono said he was not concerned about the LDP losing its

majority, but was concerned about the possibility that

Komeito might abandon the coalition, because the LDP's

governing ability was highly dependent on Komeito support.

If Komeito were to leave the coalition, the LDP would be in

serious trouble, he emphasized. This was of particular

relevance because of Komeito's pointed objections to the LDP

focus on revising Japan's policy on collective defense and a

possible rewriting of Article 9 of the Constitution. Kono

said he doubted that Komeito would, in the end, bolt the

coalition because to do so would significantly weaken its

political influence.



Defense and Foreign Policy

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4. (C) Kono was extremely skeptical of Prime Minster Abe's

panel to consider collective self-defense. He remarked that

Abe had already made up his mind about the policies he

intended to follow, and had stacked the panel with members

who shared his views, excluding anyone who might disagree.

Kono expressed concern about PM Abe's recent comments on

Japan's &departure from the post-war regime.8 He thought

Abe was speaking this way to appeal to the Japan Conference

(Nihon Kaigi),a right-wing group. Regardless of Abe's

intentions, Kono felt the Prime Minister should have been

more careful in making these comments in order to avoid

misunderstandings, both domestic and international.



5. (C) Kono also criticized Prime Minster Abe's foreign

policy, which he viewed as hard-line and uncompromising.

Kono advocated putting more emphasis on diplomacy,

communication and trust. Citing North Korea, Kono argued

that since there was no real military solution to the

problem, greater diplomatic efforts should be tried. Kono

said he was pushing for additional funding for diplomatic

efforts, even if the funds came at the expense of the defense

budget. Kono expressed concern about the decrease in Japan's

ODA budget. He recalled that during PM Koizumi's

administration, it was possible to reallocate funds to Africa

from the unnecessarily large loans for China. Such

reallocation was no longer possible, however, and ODA could

only be increased by a larger budget.



Decline in Political Activism Among Youth

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6. (C) Kono observed that the number of both left-wing and

right-wing activists was decreasing. He estimated that most

of Japan's left-wing activists were now in their 70s and 80s.

Saying he did not support extremism of any kind, Kono

expressed regret that Japanese young people were less

interested in political activism. He blamed the education

system and societal trends for creating a sense of apathy and

purposelessness. Kono recalled anti-war activism in Japan

during the Vietnam War, contrasting that with the complete

lack of student activism despite the ongoing Iraq War.

Looking at the Diet, Kono agreed that the number of young

Diet members had increased, but said he was not impressed

with their caliber.



Parliamentary Exchange

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7. (C) Kono stressed his commitment to official parliamentary

exchanges with the U.S. and China. A Japan-China exchange

was launched last year, and Kono hoped to establish a similar

exchange with the U.S., as well. Kono said Senator Inoue had

been in touch with him, and that they hoped to propose a date

certain for U.S.-Japan parliamentary exchange soon. Kono

commented that unofficial diplomatic activities between

politicians could contribute to positive bilateral relations.



U.S.-Japan Relations

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8. (C) Kono made two requests. He prefaced them by saying

that he usually refrains from commenting publicly about these

kinds of issues, but stressed that the U.S. should not "take

its relationship with Japan for granted." He asked first

that the U.S. reconsider participating in the Comprehensive

Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Kono said he realized President Bush

does not support the CTBT, but he hoped nevertheless that the

U.S. would reconsider its position. Kono also expressed

concern that security issues were being overly emphasized at

the expense of other key concerns in the U.S.-Japan

relationship. He admitted that he was not a strong supporter

of strengthening bilateral military ties, but felt that more

attention needed to be paid to non-military issues.

Recalling his time as Minister of Foreign Affairs when he

worked closely with us on the Common Agenda, Kono felt the

U.S. and Japan should concentrate more on global issues and a

broader range of problems.

SCHIEFFER