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