JAPAN CONSIDERING AID REDUCTION FOLLOWING

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 004685 SIPDIS SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO EAP/MLS AARON COPE E.O. 12958: DECL: 10-04-2007 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM SN JA SUBJECT: JAPAN CONSIDERING AID REDUCTION FOLLOWING YABUNAKA,S BURMA TRIP _____________________________________________ _____ ZFR ZFR ZFR PLEASE CANCEL THIS MESSAGE. IT WILL BE RESENT UNDER NEW MRN. -------------- -------------- ZFR ZFR ZFR PLEASE CANCEL THIS MESSAGE. IT WILLL BE RESENT UNDER NEW MRN. -------------- -------------- Classified By: Charge D' Affairs Joseph R. Donovan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka met with Deputy Foreign Minister U Maung Myint, Ministry of Defense Acting Deputy Chief of the Office of Military Security Affairs (OCMSA) Colonel Aye Ko, and Minister of Information Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan on October 1. According to MOFA First Southeast Asian Division Principal Deputy Director Atsushi Kuwabara, Yabunaka urged them to exercise self-restraint when responding to protesters, pushed for the release of political prisoners, including Aung Sang Suu Kyi, and emphasized the need for Burmese leaders to engage in dialogue with pro-democracy groups. Yabunaka expressed deep concern over the death of the Japanese journalist killed in Burma on September 27 and called on Burmese officials to return his camera and video to his family. The Burmese officials listened to his message and explained their own "roadmap to democracy" for Burma. They insisted, at some times with deep emotion, that the demonstrators in Burma were started by foreign protestors. ¶2. (SBU) After meeting with Yabunaka on October 3, Foreign Minister Komura spoke and said Japan will consider "ways to narrow humanitarian assistance." Komura stated it would not be appropriate to stop humanitarian assistance such as polio vaccines, but said Japan may consider suspending "for the time being" aid projects such as the Japan-Myanmar Human Resource Development Center. (Note: Tokyo has not extended new loan assistance to Burma since 1987 and has reduced the amount of aid by more than sixty percent over the last five years. In FY 2006, the Japanese Government provided USD 11.5 million in ODA and the Japan International Cooperation Agency granted USD 14.6 million in technical assistance. Grant assistance for the past five years consisted of three main projects: deforestation prevention, inviting 30 "future-generation" government employees to attend Japanese graduate schools, and efforts to reduce infant mortality rates. End Note.) DONOVAN