DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 10/25/07

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 004980 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 10/25/07 INDEX: (1) Ozawa resumes nationwide stumping tour for next Lower House election (Asahi) (2) UN denies carbon emissions credit to Tepco, Mitsui and Co. for first time (Nikkei) (3) Japan's choices in the war on terrorism -- Discord evident between US and European countries over Afghan reinforcements (Mainichi) (4) TOP HEADLINES (5) EDITORIALS (6) Prime Minister's schedule, October 24 (Nikkei) (Corrected copy) Interviews with Yukio Okamoto and Kenji Isezaki on MSDF refueling operation (Asahi) ARTICLES: (1) Ozawa resumes nationwide stumping tour for next Lower House election ASAHI (Page 4) (Slightly abridged) October 24, 2007 Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto),visited Sapporo City on Oct. 23 and began a nationwide stumping tour for the next House of Representatives election. Coordination on the selection of candidates for electoral districts in which the party had have difficulties was left to Ozawa's leadership to settle. He ventured out to demonstrate his campaigning skills. His clear policy stance aims at taking the reins of government through a strategy of putting energy into constituencies where candidates on the DPJ ticket can win. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) also will gradually solidify its electoral turf. "We have now picked all candidates. There are strong supporters for the DPJ in Hokkaido. I want you to do your best to win all races," said Ozawa in a Sapporo hotel on the evening of Oct. 23. The person standing beside Ozawa was Lower House member Seiji Osaka, who has been informally endorsed to run in the Hokkaido No. 8 constituency. Ozawa's stumping tour became a strong driving force for the DPJ's big win in the July House of Councillors election. During this stumping tour, Ozawa and a candidate will meet with senior members of the Japan Trade Unions Confederation's (Rengo) regional branches and dine together. Today he will fly to Osaka to meet a candidate for the Osaka mayoral election. He will then return to Tokyo later in the day. He also plans to go to the Kyushu region later this month. For his stumping tour, the DPJ has made flyers written "Politics will change or be changed. So, your choice is the DPJ." The DPJ's goal is to win 150 seats (of the 300 seats) in the electoral districts. In order to topple the LDP-New Komeito coalition by the opposition force, the largest opposition party will TOKYO 00004980 002 OF 007 mainly concentrate on constituencies in which its candidates can win a seat. In Hokkaido, however, Ozawa failed to arrange a meeting with Muneo Suzuki, the representative of the New Party Daichi. DPJ Election Champaign Committee Chair Hirotaka Akamatsu met on the 17th with Suzuki, however. Akamatsu suggested a plan that the DPJ members and Rengo organizations would vote for the New Party Daichi in the Tokyo area and the Daichi would support DPJ candidates in 12 single-seat constituencies. In the 2005 Lower House election, the Daichi obtained about 430,000 votes in the Hokkaido proportional representation bloc, which was larger than the number of votes obtained by the New Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner. The DPJ cannot ignore Suzuki's influence in Hokkaido. Suzuki, however, has not given his assent, saying, "The DPJ must reflect on its conduct first." Suzuki is still unhappy with the fact that his party's candidate was defeated in the last election even though his party cooperated with the DPJ. Ozawa sent out positive signals to Suzuki in a press conference on the 23rd, saying: "We share the view that politics should be changed by the next general election in union. I want to see him again as early as possible." (2) UN denies carbon emissions credit to Tepco, Mitsui and Co. for first time NIKKEI (Top Play) (Full) October 25, 2007 The UN has begun toughening its screening standards of projects to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that companies of industrialized countries are planning in order to obtain greenhouse gas emissions credits. In this connection, it was learned yesterday that applications for projects made by Tokyo Electric Power Co., known as Tepco, and Mitsui & Co. were rejected for the first time among Japanese companies. The UN appears to have judged that the contents of the projects were insufficient. The Japanese government is attaching importance to obtaining emissions credits in order to achieve its emissions goal, which it has pledged to the international community. If similar cases continue, the government's plan to attain the goal set under the Kyoto Protocol could be derailed. The UN has been toughening approval standards for granting emissions credits under its clean development mechanism, under which companies that have cut greenhouse emissions in projects in developing countries can obtain emissions credits. If a mainstay company in such a project applies for credits and the UN approves the application, emissions credits would be formally granted to the company, based on the Kyoto Protocol. The company then can sell such credits to the government or other entities. The UN has thus far rejected 46 such applications made by British and Indian companies, of which the rejection of 36 applications occurred this year. Tepco and Mitsui & Co. respectively planned greenhouse gas reduction projects using sugar cane for power generation. Tepco applied for emissions credits for one project. It had reportedly expected to gain emissions credits worth approximately 33,000 tons a year in terms of CO2 emissions. Mitsui & Co. applied for such credits for TOKYO 00004980 003 OF 007 two projects. It had reportedly expected to gain emissions credits worth approximately 75,000 tons a year in total. Both companies submitted plans to the UN after obtaining approval from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The UN held a board meeting to determine the efficacy of the projects and decided not to approve them. Though the UN declined to give detailed reasons for the rejection, it appears that it examined the technical aspect of the projects and has judged that it is questionable whether their projects would produce expected results. Regarding the UN rejection, Tepco said, "We will make an application again, after modifying the contents of the project." Mitsui & Co. released a comment that it intends to try again, after taking further measures. Tepco has cancelled an application for emissions credits for another project to collect methane gas in Chile, because the UN has kept putting on hold granting approval, judging that greenhouse gas emissions reduction effects of the project are insufficient. The company failed to obtain emissions credits worth approximately 150,000 tons, according to its original estimate. There is also fear that it might not be able to collect funds it invested. Japan is obligated to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 6 PERCENT on average over five years between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2012 from the 1990 level. Industry and households are making efforts to cut emissions. Tepco had expected to cut carbon emissions on the strength of the suspension of the nuclear power plant due to the Chuetsu Earthquake in Niigata Prefecture as well as carbon emissions rights. (3) Japan's choices in the war on terrorism -- Discord evident between US and European countries over Afghan reinforcements MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) October 25, 2007 "Ready, aim, fire!" An Afghan commander's order rang out across the plains in northern Afghanistan. Three Soviet-made launchers were used by some 40 Afghan troops. Throughout the rotational firing training, Kalashnikov-armed troops stood on guard against attacks by militia groups. Their moves were watched by three German International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops. After four months' training, many Afghan troops are sent to southern Afghanistan and other areas where battles are still going on with forces under the control of the former Taliban. "We appreciate the guidance we receive from the German force," the commander said. In Afghanistan, there are some 40,000 NATO-led ISAF troops, including 15,000 from the United States, 7,700 from Britain and 3,000 from Germany. They are engaged in security operations and civilian assistance in northern Afghanistan. Being part of ISAF is NATO's first military operation outside Europe. ISAF could make or break NATO's future plans. But there is discord between the United States and Britain and other European members over areas of deployment and troop enforcements. TOKYO 00004980 004 OF 007 "Why can't the military alliance (NATO) with 2 million troops comply with the calls for additional troops?" This comment came from a frustrated US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in Ukraine's capital of Kiev on Oct. 22. His frustration was directed at Germany, Italy, and other European countries that are reluctant to increase combat troops and deploy forces to southern Afghanistan. There are serious shortages of transportation means, such as helicopters, and personnel for training Afghan troops. Although 70,000 Afghanistan troops were scheduled to take over security operations from NATO, less than 30,000 have been trained. Fierce battles with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan have taken a heavy toll on the United States and Britain. Although NATO Secretary-General de Hoop Scheffer complained that some countries SIPDIS have not sent troops to combat zones, such countries as Germany have turned deaf ears to his complaint. Their reaction comes from low public support for ISAF participation. In an opinion poll conducted by German newspaper Welt, 61 PERCENT expressed opposition to continuing ISAF participation, while 29 PERCENT voiced support. Although the German parliament decided on Oct. 12 to extend the ISAF mission by one year, some ruling coalition members voted against it or abstained from the vote. Taliban members have committed over 100 suicide bombings this year. The security situation in northern Afghanistan, which had been comparatively stable, has markedly deteriorated since last year. A series of attacks by armed insurgents that claimed some lives of German troops have increased calls for withdrawal. At the NATO defense ministerial held in the Netherlands on Oct. 24-25, the United States is expected to press European countries for Afghan reinforcements. According to Reuters, the Pentagon plans to determine the size of troops (currently about 1,600) to be stationed in the autonomous province of Kosovo in Serbia for next summer and beyond, after watching how far the European nations will comply with the calls for Afghanistan reinforcements. With Albanian residents starting to move for independence, the situation in Kosovo has become volatile. The United States has presented the European nations with an ultimatum, saying if they wanted the United States to stay in Kosovo, they would have to send more troops to Afghanistan. The United States has different expectations for Japan. A senior American ISAF military officer said, "Japan has disbursed an enormous amount of money for the reconstruction of Afghanistan; and we appreciate it." There is a gap in intentions between NATO, whose top concern is Japan's economic assistance, and Japan, which is searching for ways to provide human contributions. (4) TOP HEADLINES Asahi, Yomiuri, Sankei, Tokyo Shimbun & Akahata: School test shows students lack ability to apply skills Mainichi: Students answer correctly 70-80 PERCENT of basic problems TOKYO 00004980 005 OF 007 Nikkei: UN rejects CO2 reduction projects by Tokyo Electric, Mitsui (5) EDITORIALS Asahi: (1) School tests costly but show no fresh results (2) Let's look squarely at ugly truth of Kim Dae Jung incident in 1973 Mainichi: (1) Japan, South Korea should try to resolve Kim Dae Jung incident in fair manner (2) For what purpose will education minister use achievement test results? Yomiuri: (1) Effectively use achievement test results (2) Huge price paid for betraying consumers by mislabeling Nikkei: (1) Government urged to step up efforts to recover trust in food labeling (2) Don't be swayed only by school test results Sankei: (1) Improve students' academic ability without restraining competition (2) We are fed up with illegal practices in food industry Tokyo Shimbun: (1) Effectively make use of achievement test results (2) Political settlement of Kim Dae Jung abduction leaves roots of problem Akahata: (1) Japan should make diplomatic efforts instead of supporting war (6) Prime Minister's schedule, October 24 NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) October 25, 2007 08:36 Attended a nuclear disaster drill held at the Kantei. 10:29 Met Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura. 12:00 Had an informal meeting with Kantei reporters. 14:15 Met Asia Peace Contribution Center Chief Director Haruo Nishihara, followed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Futahashi, and Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters Research Council Chair Sasaki. 14:30 Met LDP Reform Implementation Headquarters chief Takebe. 16:01 TOKYO 00004980 006 OF 007 Met Ambassador to Russia Saito, followed by Takasaki Mayor Matsuura. 18:00 Attended a national secretaries general and policy research council chairmen meeting held at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka. 19:00 Called German Chancellor Merkel from the Kantei. 19:56 Returned to his residence in Nozawa. (Editor's note: A key phrase was inadvertently left out of the translation below that changed the meaning to one unintended by Mr. Okamoto. Our apologies to Mr. Okamoto and to our readers.) (Corrected copy) Interviews with Yukio Okamoto and Kenji Isezaki on MSDF refueling operation ASAHI (Page 18) (Abridged slightly) October 18, 2007 Foreign affairs commentator Yukio Okamoto -- Terrorism must be prevented from spreading to Asia -- When the government decided on the refueling operation in 2001, you were serving as an adviser to the Cabinet Office. Okamoto: Japan had several options back then, but Prime Minister Koizumi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda chose the refueling mission. I think it was a pragmatic decision. Many countries are associated with Afghanistan in three areas: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF),the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF),and the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). Japan is refueling naval vessels of the countries engaged in the maritime interdiction operations (MIO) as part of OEF. Although the refueling operation is least dangerous and not so costly, it is appreciated by other countries. -- How would other countries be affected if Japan discontinued its services? Okamoto: US and British refuelers are operating in the same waters, so they would be able to continue with MIO even without Japan. Whether or not to drop out of the international effort of 40 countries that are engaged in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan is a serious question for Japan. -- Will the government be able to convince the general public about the rationale behind the refueling operation? Okamoto: Why doesn't it say that they are preventing terrorism from spreading to Asia? Terrorism is moving east, engulfing the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. They are working hard so as not to allow terrorists take control of the sea. -- Is there any option other than providing fuel for Japan? Okamoto: Japan can cooperate in providing information, which is more desirable. Two MSDF vessels -- a supply ship and a destroyer -- are TOKYO 00004980 007 OF 007 now in the Indian Ocean. But because they are playing only a supportive role, Japan is regarded as an associate MIO member. Japan is not informed of the overall picture of the operation, either. Japan would be able to become a full member if it reduces the two vessels to one destroyer and provides information on suspicious boats. Japan would not have to conduct ship inspections that require use of weapons. It would just have to provide information on the sea. Such would not constitute an exercise of the right to collective self-defense. -- Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa has proposed participation in the ISAF. Okamoto: Afghanistan has claimed 71 Canadian lives. The ISAF would be more dangerous than the Ground Self-Defense Force's operations in Samawah. Making such a wager is fine and laudable and I agree with it, but I wonder if such would really be possible. Talk of replacing the refueling mission with ISAF participation sounds like placing the cart before the horse. SCHIEFFER