DIET LEAGUE TO PROPOSE RESOLUTION ON BURMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 005021

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EAP/MLS - AARON COPE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM BM JA
SUBJECT: DIET LEAGUE TO PROPOSE RESOLUTION ON BURMA

REF: SECSTATE 146862

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Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer, reasons 1.4(b),(d).


1. (C) Summary. Lawmakers from a nonpartisan group
supporting the democratization of Burma plan to submit a
resolution to the Diet over the next few weeks to condemn the
recent crackdown on peaceful protesters and urge dialogue
between the Burmese government and the opposition. The Diet
members met at the Diet offices on October 24 to discuss
Japan's response to the recent events in Burma. They
listened to presentations by Embassy Political Minister
Counselor and other third-country diplomats, as well as
representatives of Burma-related nongovernmental
organizations. They also challenged a MOFA representative to
reject a recent article by a former Japanese ambassador to
Burma that blamed the protesters for the outbreak of violence
and denigrated Aung San Suu Kyi. End summary.


2. (C) Sixteen lawmakers from the nonpartisan League to
Support Democracy in Myanmar convened a meeting on October 24
to discuss the situation in Burma. The Diet members in
attendance included senior figures from both the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),the main opposition
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),and the small Social
Democratic Party (SDP) including, LDP Diet Affairs Chair
Tadamori Oshima and DPJ "Next Foreign Minister" Yoshio
Hachiro. The League has 68 Diet members. U.S. and
third-country diplomats, along with a representative from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various Burma-related
nongovernmental organizations, rounded out the program.


3. (C) The Diet members grilled the MOFA representative on a
recent article in one of Japan's weekly journals by former
Ambassador to Burma Yoichi Yamaguchi that was extremely
sympathetic to the Burmese regime. The article, which was
distributed to all attendees, defends the crackdown on
protesters and places blame for the violence on the monks and
other protesters. Describing Aung San Suu Kyi as "not very
smart," the article charges that she lost support in Burma
after receiving aid and advice from the United States. MOFA
Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Director General
Chihiro Atsumi tried to dodge a question from League General
Secretary and DPJ member Yoshinori Suematsu as to whether

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Yamaguchi's opinion represents the views of MOFA, saying the
former Ambassador is a private citizen. As the questioning
grew more hostile, Atsumi relented only slightly, responding
to Hachiro that he "regretted that the article and Ambassador
Yamaguchi's position invited misunderstanding." Only after
further questioning from Suematsu did he finally admit that
Yamaguchi's position does not represent the views of MOFA.
LDP member Takeshi Iwaya referred to Yamaguchi's position as
"unacceptable."


4. (C) Democracy, rule of law, and human rights are the
foundation of Japan's diplomacy, Iwaya added, and should be
better reflected in Japan's Burma policy, beyond merely
scaling down economic assistance. He decried Japan's "vague
stance" on the issue, and expressed concern that Japan could
lose the confidence of the international community. SDP
member Kiyomi Tsujimoto also emphasized the importance of
greater clarity in Japan's position, and suggested that the
League propose a Diet resolution on the subject. DPJ Upper
House member Tomiko Okazaki, recounting her work on Burma
issues over the past 17 years, denounced the regime's
treatment of women, and called for consideration of some sort
of peace-keeping operation for Burma.


5. (C) DPJ International Bureau Chair Tetsundo Iwakuni
reported on the success of Japan's delegation to the October
6 to 11 meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in

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Switzerland in gaining approval of an emergency resolution
calling for "necessary and effective measures" to deal with
the Burma issue. The adoption of this resolution, he said,
demonstrates the significantly high level of interest in
Burma and the need to act now to promote democratization. He
lamented that representatives from China and India had forced
Japan's delegation, of which he was a part, to remove the
word "sanctions" from the final language of the resolution.


6. (C) Embassy Political Minister-Counselor, using points
contained reftel, joined his counterpart from the Norwegian
Embassy and the British Ambassador in briefing the Diet
members on their respective countries' positions.
Japan-based Burmese emigrees from various anti-junta
nongovernmental organizations presented a slide show
detailing the regime's "reign of terror."


7. (C) At the end of the session, Suematsu announced that the
League has begun the process of drafting a Diet resolution to
express the opinion of the Japanese Diet as a whole. The
draft will denounce the regime's recent crackdown on peaceful
protests, request the release of detained protesters, and
call for dialogue between the government and the opposition.
He also noted that the League's executive members would be
meeting with UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari on October 25,
and promised to deliver a strong message.
SCHIEFFER