THE DEPUTY SECRETARY'S MEETING WITH CHIEF CABINET

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 003594

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STATE FOR D, AND EAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2027
TAGS: PREL JA
SUBJECT: THE DEPUTY SECRETARY'S MEETING WITH CHIEF CABINET
SECRETARY YASUHISA SHIOZAKI


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Classified By: Deputy Secretary John Negroponte, for reasons 1.4(b)/(d)


1. (C) Summary: Chief Cabinet Secretary Shiozaki assured the
Deputy Secretary on August 3 that the LDP's election setback
would not affect U.S.-Japan relations, and the two agreed
that the U.S.-Japan alliance would continue to form the
cornerstone of peace and stability in the region. CCS
Shiozaki noted Japanese efforts to strengthen information
security, and the Deputy Secretary assured him the U.S. would
work cooperatively with the Japanese Government on this
important issue. Shiozaki welcomed the restart of the
Six-Party Talks, but cautioned we were only in the initial
phase and would have to watch North Korea carefully. He
cited the need for North Korea to address Japan's concerns on
the abduction issue and asked the U.S. to take care in
addressing the question of whether to remove North Korea from
the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. The Deputy Secretary
and Shiozaki agreed that denuclearization on the Korean
Peninsula remained the most important issue. The Deputy
Secretary raised climate change, noting the President had

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invited the fifteen largest greenhouse gas emitting nations
to meet this fall. Shiozaki said PM Abe was determined to
tackle the issue and envisioned three principles for a
post-Kyoto protocol: including all major greenhouse gas
emitting countries; ensuring flexibility; and compatibility
between environmental protection and economic development.
End Summary.

Elections Won't Affect Bilateral Relations
--------------


2. (C) Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told the
Deputy Secretary in a meeting August 3 that the Liberal
Democratic Party's (LDP) defeat in the Upper House elections
would make the fall Diet session "hectic and difficult," but
would not affect the U.S.-Japan relationship. Shiozaki said
the foundation of bilateral relations would be strengthened
through realignment of U.S. forces in Okinawa and ballistic
missile defense cooperation. The Deputy Secretary agreed
that strong bilateral relations and the U.S.-Japan alliance
remain the cornerstone of peace and stability in Northeast
Asia, adding it was reassuring to hear that the election
results would not alter that view on the part of Japan.

Information Security
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3. (C) Shiozaki noted the U.S. and Japan had initiated a
Bilateral Information Security Task Force (BISTF) in the wake
of two unfortunate leaks of sensitive information, including
AEGIS data. He said the Government of Japan (GOJ) would
strengthen its legal structure, noting the LDP had already
begun discussing a strengthened legal framework. Shiozaki
said the GOJ would cooperate with the U.S. in the interest of
reaching a new stage of cooperation in protecting sensitive
information. He said the GOJ understood the matter could not
be left to individual ministries, but needed oversight by the
Prime Minister's office in order to provide a new
"infrastructure" for taking care of sensitive information.


4. (C) The Deputy Secretary welcomed GOJ efforts and the
Chief Cabinet Secretary's personal involvement in the issue.
He noted that interagency participation was very important,
citing his experience as DNI. The Deputy Secretary noted
that when the U.S. undertook intelligence reform, we
concluded that two things were needed: information sharing
along with adequate protection; and integration of
information, noting that stove-piping did not work. The
Deputy Secretary underlined that the U.S. wished to work
cooperatively with Japan on information security. He
emphasized the importance of information security and was
confident progress would pave the way toward greater
cooperation and intelligence sharing. Ambassador Schieffer
also thanked the Chief Cabinet secretary for his personal
involvement and labeled agreement on BISTF a "major
breakthrough," adding that he was very optimistic about the
prospects for progress on the issue.

North Korea
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5. (C) Shiozaki said the GOJ was pleased that Six Party
Talks had finally restarted. He cautioned that we were still

in the initial phase and that we had to make sure North Korea
was serious and would follow through on the agreements
reached to date. The most important issue, he emphasized,
was denuclearization of North Korea. Japan was ready to
participate, but its concerns about abductees needed to be
met before it could contribute economically. Shiozaki said
he appreciated the fact that the U.S. had made sure the
DPRK-Japan and U.S.-DPRK Working Groups would meet around the
same time. Shiozaki asked that the U.S. also pay close
attention to the question of removing the DPRK from the State
Sponsors of Terrorist list, noting the Japanese public was
very sensitive about that issue.


6. (C) The Deputy Secretary said the U.S. agrees that the
most important aspect of Six Party Talks is denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula. We were "mildly hopeful," he said,
that the process could move forward. "We are realists", he
added, and not under any illusions about the difficulty of
dealing with North Korea. The Deputy Secretary said we would
watch for progress in the Working Groups in August and in the
next round of Six Party Talks. We would proceed on a
step-by-step basis, he said, and continue to support Japanese
concerns about abductions. Regarding the State Sponsors of
Terrorism designation of North Korea, the Deputy Secretary
said we had agreed to begin discussing that issue, but
emphasized that Japan could count on us "not to rush." If
progress were made on denuclearization, then we could deal
with other issues including peace on the Korean Peninsula and
normalization.

NEAPSM
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7. (C) Turning to the Northeast Asia Peace and Security
Mechanism (NEAPSM),CCS Shiozaki observed that it was most
important that denuclearization remained the first priority.
He said the U.S.-Japan alliance was paramount for maintaining
peace and security in Northeast Asia, and advised the U.S.
not to be "too hasty" about undertaking four-party Korean
peace talks, particularly without close coordination with
Japan.

Climate Change
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8. (C) The Deputy Secretary raised climate change, noting
the President had invited the fifteen largest greenhouse gas
emitting nations to meet this fall. Shiozaki said PM Abe was
very determined to tackle the issue. Shiozaki noted the
Prime Minister's good talks with the President in April,
high-level bilateral talks which had already taken place, and
technical talks on energy efficiency. PM Abe, he said,
envisioned three principles for a post-Kyoto protocol:
including all major greenhouse gas emitting countries;
ensuring flexibility related to individual countries'
conditions; and a new framework that would be compatible
between environmental protection and economic development.
Shiozaki noted that PM Abe would visit India and that Japan
would seek a mechanism to financially support developing
countries as a means of bringing countries like India into
the climate change discussion in a positive way. PM Abe's
aim, he noted, was to cut emissions in half by the year 2050.
The Deputy Secretary said we looked forward to working with
Japan on climate change. He pointed out that the U.S.
advocated removing duties on clean technologies as an initial
step.

Economic Policy
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9. (C) On the economic side, Shiozaki said there was still
little consciousness in Japan about the value of a free trade
agreement, but he thought an FTA could be a topic of
discussion in the future. The Prime Minister's basic
economic policy, he noted, was openness and innovation.


10. (U) August 3, 2007; 14:20; Tokyo, Japan.


11. (U) Meeting Participants:

U.S.
Deputy Secretary Negroponte
Ambassador Schieffer


Deputy Assistant Secretary David Sedney, Dept of Defense
James Zumwalt, Director of Japan Affairs, Dept of State
Kaye Lee, Special Assistant
Ted Wittenstein, Special Assistant
James Pierce, A/POLMIN (Notetaker)

Japan
Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Chief Cabinet Secretary
Tadao Ando, Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary
Shinichi Nishimiya, Director-General, North American Affairs
Bureau, MOFA
Takeo Mori, Director, First North America Division, MOFA
Seiji Suzuki, Assistant to the Chief Cabinet Secretary
Mr. Shiozaki, Private Secretary to Chief Cabinet Secretary
Mr. Fukushima, First North America Division, MOFA
SCHIEFFER