PROGRESS ON BILL TO FUND MARINES MOVE TO GUAM

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 000602

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2012
TAGS: MARR PREL PGOV JA
SUBJECT: PROGRESS ON BILL TO FUND MARINES MOVE TO GUAM


Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor W. Michael Meserve,
reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Legislation to fund the transfer of 8,000
Marines from Okinawa to Guam will be submitted to the Diet
for approval as early as the week of February 12, MOD Deputy
Director-General Kanazawa told Embassy on February 5. He
praised the recent Ambassador Schieffer-led visit of senior
Diet Members to Guam as "highly effective" in cementing
ruling coalition support for the bill. Kanazawa repeated
apologies for DefMin Kyuma's recent gaffes on Iraq and
realignment, and echoed the request for a Kyuma meeting with
Vice-President Cheney relayed by the Japanese Embassy in
Washington. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) In a February 5 call on Embassy Political-Minister
Counselor Meserve, MOD Deputy-Director-General for Defense
Policy Hironori Kanazawa outlined Japanese government plans
to submit legislation to the Diet to enable Japan Bank of
International Cooperation (JBIC) funding to be used for the
move of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam. Following Cabinet
endorsement of the bill on February 9, he said, it will be
submitted for Diet approval swiftly, as soon as the week of
February 12.


3. (C) The JBIC Guam funding bill has broad backing in the
ruling coalition, said Kanazawa. The February 3-4 visit of
senior coalition Diet Members to Guam -- led by Ambassador
Schieffer, and including former Defense Ministers Yamazaki
and Ohno, and former Foreign Minister Machimura -- had been
well-timed and "highly effective" in cementing coalition
support. The stance of the opposition Democratic Party of
Japan on the funding was unclear, he said, but the government
would "make every effort" for quick approval of the bill.


4. (C) On the Japanese deployment of Self-Defense Forces
(SDF) to support coalition efforts in Iraq, Kanazawa said
that the government would submit the bill extending the
mission later in the Diet session, due to anticipated stiff
resistance from opposition parties. All in MOD "from the
Defense Minister on down" support the SDF deployment to Iraq
as "fully in Japan's national interests," he emphasized.
Kyuma's style in seeking Diet passage of the extension would
be to "show (he) doesn't take Diet approval for granted" by
encouraging politicians to "think carefully" and then support
the bill, Kanazawa explained. He hoped this approach would
not be misconstrued as less than full backing for the bill,
he said.


5. (C) Kanazawa reiterated apologies for Defense Minister
Kyuma's recent criticism of U.S. action in Iraq as "a
mistake". Kyuma knows his comments were "poorly timed" and
that the whole episode has been "a failure" on his part.
Kyuma's criticism of the U.S. approach to realignment,
Kanazawa explained, was a "Japanese style" effort to appease
the Okinawa governor and ensure his buy-in to the overall
realignment plan. Kyuma was a "special kind of Japanese
politician", he added, sometimes "difficult even for Japanese
to understand."


6. (C) To move beyond recent problems, Defense Minister Kyuma
would like to request a brief meeting with Vice-President
Cheney during the latter's visit to Japan later this month,
said Kanazawa (NOTE: This request was also made in Washington
by the Japanese Embassy). Meserve replied that the
Vice-President's schedule was extremely tight, but the
request would be relayed to Washington.
SCHIEFFER