DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/03/07-1

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 003538 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA; WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST DIVISION; TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR; CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 08/03/07-1 Index: (1) US State Department deputy spokesman urges Japan to extend antiterrorism law, seeks to check DPJ (2) Inward-looking trend growing in FTA talks: Coordinating views on agricultural liberalization becoming difficult (3) Interview with Shuntaro Torigoe, journalist: Akagi made a scapegoat (4) Opposition camp might use censure motions to force the prime minister into dissolving the Lower House ARTICLES: (1) US State Department deputy spokesman urges Japan to extend antiterrorism law, seeks to check DPJ MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full) August 2, 2007 Masaya Oikawa, Washington At a press conference on Aug. 1, US State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey strongly urged Japan to extend its Antiterrorism Special Measures Law, which will expire in November. He stated: "It is clear that cooperation with the Japanese government has been well in fighting terrorism. We hope the law will be revised so that Japan and the US will be able to continue carrying out various antiterrorism measures." Ichiro Ozawa, president of Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), which became the largest force in the House of Councillor, has expressed opposition to the extension of the law. Therefore, Casey's comment was aimed at seeking to constrain the DPJ's moves. Casey said: "What to do with individual bills is an issue the Japanese people decide. The Japanese government understands well that Japan may sustain damage from terrorism and that it was exposed to the threat of terrorist attacks and even attacked by terrorists. We have no doubts that the Japanese government and the United States will cooperate on the terrorist problem." (2) Inward-looking trend growing in FTA talks: Coordinating views on agricultural liberalization becoming difficult NIKKEI (Page 5) (Slightly abridged) August 2, 2007 Faced with globalization and a declining birthrate at home, Japan is �A;finding its trade and agricultural strategies - specifically, accelerating trade talks and strengthening the competitiveness of domestic agriculture -- have begun faltering due to the crushing defeat of the ruling parties in the recent Upper House election. The election result could usher in stronger domestic calls for further protection of agriculture, which could stall trade talks. Agriculture Minister Norihiko Akagi was scheduled to meet with United States Trade Representative Schwab during his visit to the US TOKYO 00003538 002 OF 007 starting on August 2, but the day before, he resigned his post. Japan's trade and agricultural strategies, now becoming increasingly inward-looking, reflect the beginnings of a Japan adrift. When the defeat of the ruling parties became certain, business leaders unanimously voiced their concern over ongoing trade talks stagnating, with Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren),noting, "Trade talks will require talks between the ruling and opposition parties"; and Masamitsu Sakurai, representative director of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai),saying, "I am concerned to what extent the election result will have an impact on the talks." Behind their remarks is the perception that a growing trend of protectionism toward domestic farmers will hinder the government's efforts to sign economic partnership agreements (EPA) with other countries, as one senior Nippon Keidanren officer put it. Spreading view seeking agricultural protection The LDP advocated in the Upper House election campaign the strengthening of competitiveness through nurturing large-scale farming, while the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) proposed establishing an income compensation system targeting all farm households. The DPJ grabbed seats in single-seat constituencies, where it had done badly in previous elections. Unless coordination between the ruling and opposition camps goes smoothly, Japan would not be able to make concessions in this sector, causing stagnation in the FTA talks. The ordeal is soon to come. The government will hold EPA talks with Australia starting on August 6. In the talks, Australia, an agricultural power, is expected to ask Japan to scrap tariffs on agricultural products, including beef and dairy products, on which Japan levies high tariffs. Japan was supposed to set the date to open the talks for August in order to avoid their impact on the Upper House election, according to a government source. "Now that things have come to this pass, Japan must face the talks with its basic stance remaining shaky," the same source said. Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Minister Akira Amari warned, "I want the opposition parties to refrain from opposing for the sake of opposing." However, EPAs require ratification by the Lower and Upper Houses. Since the opposition camp has a majority in the Upper House, it is virtually tantamount to a ruling camp. METI officials and officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have started preparations to give briefings to the DPJ, saying, "We need to obtain understanding from the opposition parties." Views calling for expansion of agricultural protection are growing in the LDP as well. LDP lawmaker Toshio Yamada, former senior managing director of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives (Zenchu),who was for the first time elected in the Upper House election this time, emphatically said, "In order to win in the next election, it is necessary to establish a subsidy system that gives consideration to the lives of small-scale farmers." Passive damages immense What impact will a possible stagnation of EPA talks with Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have on the Japanese economy? The Mitsubishi Research Center has estimated that passive damage Japan would incur from a one-year delay in the enactment of an EPA with those nations would reach approximately 1 TOKYO 00003538 003 OF 007 trillion yen, depriving 250,000 people of job opportunities. According to the World Trade Organization statistics, the number of FTAs signed across the world reached 141 as of March. The number has doubled over about six years since 2000. How far will the ruling and opposition parties be able to promote free trade and agricultural reform? If they mismanage the EPA policy, the tab they have to pick up in the future would be enormous. (3) Interview with Shuntaro Torigoe, journalist: Akagi made a scapegoat MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) August 2, 2008 -- How do you evaluate the resignation of former Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Norihiko Akagi to take responsibility for the ruling coalition's crushing defeat in the July 29 House of Councillors election? Members in the LDP and the media have criticized him (over his office expense scandals) as the main cause for the election defeat. Mr. Akagi, unable to resist such a trend, must have judged it necessary to take responsibility. -- Why did his resignation come after the election? It is probably because the election result was more devastating than the LDP may have expected. An atmosphere of laying the blame on someone swept across the party after the election. Mr. Akagi was made a kind of scapegoat. It is strange to place the entire responsibility on Mr. Akagi. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must be held responsible for having appointed him, but he apparently does not care about it. -- Politics-and-money scandals have cropped up in succession. This is attributable to there having been no change of government. If there is a change of government, it should be possible for the new government to expose the corruption that the former administration had festered inside the organization and drive it out. Central government agencies also should have a keener sense of tension. In order to disclose information, a change of government is an essential means. -- How do you view the historic defeat of the Liberal Democratic Party? The July 29 election was an opportunity for the voters to judge the Abe administration. The election outcome must not be dismissed only with the removal of Mr. Akagi. Mr. Abe asked the voters to "choose Abe or (Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Ichiro) Ozawa." So, it should be considered better from a common-sense stand that for the prime minister to step down to take responsibility. He is thus irresponsible as a leader. In addition, Mr. Abe's proposal for amending the Constitutional has a hazardous nature, and he has stressed only a growth-oriented economic policy without giving consideration to the people's lives. These three points can be listed as the main reasons for the LDP's defeat in the election. -- What impression did you have of the election campaign? TOKYO 00003538 004 OF 007 Mr. Abe frequently dodged subjects in replying to my questions. He did so when I asked in a special election program, "Do you think the voters selected Mr. Ozawa?" He often gives incoherent replies because he is unable to flexibly reply to unexpected questions. He probably has yet to fully develop his skills as a politician. I also recall Mr. Abe crying out that "we must win!" This remark must have been based on the premise they would lose the election. I thought at that time that the LDP would be defeated. -- Why do you think Prime Minister Abe decided to stay in power despite criticism voiced even within the LDP? Mr. Abe believes that he was defeated because of the pension problem and a series of scandals involving cabinet ministers. He never takes the view that voters rejected the task of constitutional revision he took up in the first stage of the election campaign. That is why he still says: "I will do what I want to do." -- What is your prediction about the future of the political world? Mr. Abe is eager to make arrangements to push ahead with the task of reforming the Constitution. To that end, he will reorganize the political world, with a focus on Article 9 of the Constitution. Even in the DPJ, there are members in favor of constitutional revision. Meanwhile, there are anti-Abe forces in the LDP. The New Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, has taken the stance of protecting Article 9. It is now in the stage of shuffling in the preparation for a reorganization of the political world. A real political battle will start from now. (Torigoe was unofficially asked to run in the Tokyo gubernatorial election this April to face off with Shintaro Ishihara. After some thought, he decided to decline the offer for reasons of health, but he has continued to take a harsh look at politics.) (4) Opposition camp might use censure motions to force the prime minister into dissolving the Lower House TOKYO SHIMBUN (Pages 24, 25) (Abridged) August 2, 2007 Attention is focused on Ichiro Ozawa who heads the major opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which achieved a landslide victory in the July 29 House of Councillors election. In the wake of Agriculture Minister Norihiko Akagi's dismissal yesterday, the option of submitting a censure motion against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has surfaced as an effective means to force the Abe cabinet into resignation en masse and dissolving the House of Representatives. How effective is a censure motion? "I got a telephone call from Mr. Ozawa around noon today. He referred to Prime Minister Abe's decision to stay on as pure nonsense. He also said that Mr. Abe is in a state of shock and that his mind is in a panic." This comment came from former Upper House lawmaker Sadao Hirano, who is long known as an adviser to Ozawa. Hirano also explained Ozawa's mind this way: "During his campaign, Prime Minister Abe asked people, 'Which do you choose, Mr. Ozawa or myself?' His party suffered a crushing defeat as a result, but he will not quit as prime minister. Mr. Ozawa, in TOKYO 00003538 005 OF 007 my view, wanted to say that the prime minister has not taken responsibility as a lawmaker." The LDP is exhibiting terminal symptoms, as seen in Abe's dismissal yesterday of Agriculture Minister Akagi over his poor handling of offices expenses, which allegedly contributed to the party's serious setback in the election. "Mr. Ozawa should force the prime minister into Lower House dissolution for a snap general election at the earliest possible date in order to bring about a change of government," Hirano said. Hirano also cited two points as prerequisites to that end: "In the election, the DPJ vowed to improve people's livelihoods by citing such areas as pension, disparity, tax, employment, agriculture, employment that won public support. Now the question is how the party fleshes them out. The DPJ must seedily come up with specific polities that can win public support." Hirano added: "The day after the Upper House poll, Mr. Ozawa sent a fervent message to all those planning to run in the next Lower House election on the DPJ ticket. The party needs to determine some 100 official single-seat candidates. Making preparations for the election is a top priority." How will the DPJ move next in the Upper House, which is likely to serve as the main battlefield in the upcoming extraordinary Diet session, while solidifying its electoral power base? Is there any chance to file and approve a censure motion against Prime Minister Abe in the Upper House? Although Ozawa indicated in a post-election press conference that he was not thinking of presenting a censure motion for the time being, Hirano took this view: "There is a possibility that the opposition camp will present a motion. Chances are that it will do so in the extraordinary Diet session in the fall when deliberations on the Antiterrorism Special Measures Law, scheduled to expire on November 1, climax. If the prime minister tries to bulldoze bills through the Lower House, the opposition camp would file a motion even if it is rejected in the Upper House." An additional scandal involving a cabinet minister following Akagi or the government's failure to deal sufficiently with the pension issue is also likely to prompt the opposition camp to file a censure motion. Did Ozawa, who has a long history of wielding influence from behind the scenes by assisting heads of other parties, pour his heart and soul into the July 29 poll? Hirano said: "Mr. Ozawa is dead serious about wresting power from the LDP. Realizing that he can no longer run away, I think Mr. Ozawa has taken voters' wishes to his heart through this election." What is a censure motion in the Upper House? TOKYO 00003538 006 OF 007 The Upper House's censure motion corresponds to the Lower House's no-confidence motion against the cabinet. To date, a total of 27 censure motions have been filed against the prime minister and all have been voted down. Against cabinet ministers, 72 motions have been submitted. In October 1998, the DPJ, New Komeito, and Liberal Party submitted a motion against then Defense Agency Director-General Fukushiro Nukaga over a breach-of-trust scandal involving agency officials. The Upper House approved it for the first time under the current Constitution, and Nukaga stepped down as a result. Unlike a no-confidence motion against the cabinet, a censure motion is not legally binding. In an earlier Upper House full session, a censure motion against Prime Minister Abe was voted down by a margin of 18 votes. If a motion was filed again in the upcoming Diet session, it is certain to clear the Upper House. If approved, how would a censure motion against the prime minister affect him? Journalist Takao Toshikawa explained: "That would mean another vote of no confidence in Abe following the one in the latest election. Running Diet business and compiling budges would become extremely difficult." Political analyst Kichiya Kobayashi holds this view: "It would deal a serious blow to the Abe administration, causing him to lose his momentum in the party and decreasing his support rate. In the Diet, DPJ by using its numerical superiority would intensify its offensive against the LDP overt the antiterrorism law, which has been the legal basis for the SDF's logistical support for US vessels, and other legislation. LDP lawmakers would simply watch the fragile cabinet, and it would soon show cracks and sink." Atsuo Ito, a political analyst and a former DPJ chief of the secretariat, also predicted: SIPDIS "The Upper House would send bill after bill to the Lower House, such as legislation prohibiting pension funds being used for other purposes and a bill tightening the Political Funds Control Law, to please the public. The DPJ would pressure the prime minister for dissolving the Lower House." What is the most effective timing for submitting a censure motion? Toshikawa's answer is, linking it to a revision of the antiterrorism law which is to expire in November. Although the government eyes enacting a bill for extending the law by one year, there is a high likelihood that it will be rejected in the Upper House and be re-discussed in the Lower House as a result. Toshikawa added: "The DPJ has consistently opposed the antiterrorism law. Ozawa might present an amendment first. He would employ both soft and hard approaches to demonstrate that his party is capable of assuming political reins in addition to just saying 'no' to the ruling camp. TOKYO 00003538 007 OF 007 The opposition bloc would submit a censure motion either when the Diet is in turmoil over the terrorism law's revision or soon after the Diet opens." Kobayashi pointed to the outset of the next Diet session to apply pressure on the ruling camp. He said: "The New Komeito is reluctant to extend the terrorism law, and re-discussing the law's extension back in the Lower House might be difficult. Depending on how things turn out, the Abe cabinet might be pressed either to resign en masse before the end of the year or to dissolve the Lower House to ask for a public vote of confidence." The DPJ still must clear many hurdles before taking the reins of government. Is there any chance for an Ozawa administration? Ito does not think the opposition bloc can switch place with the ruling camp in the next general election. He thinks a reversal of places takes three steps: the DPJ's landslide victory in the Upper House election as the first step, followed by a close race in the next general election as the second step, and then political realignment or a change of government as a result of a fissure between the LDP and New Komeito or schisms in the LDP as the third step. Political commentator Minoru Morita takes a severe view on Ozawa, who declared in the campaign that he might retire from politics: "The next election is about winning or losing, period. Prime Minister Abe is clinging to power despite his party's crushing defeat. That's not politics by a mature person. His administration is corrupt and too childish. The same is true with the head of the largest opposition party. I believe he won't mention retiring from politics anymore. Ozawa's first and foremost top priority is to force the prime minister into dissolving the Lower House." SCHIEFFER