DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 000784 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 02//07 INDEX: (1) Editorial: We are concerned about no Cheney-Kyuma meeting (2) Editorial: Abe, Cheney underline importance of enhanced Japan-US alliance that requires constant efforts (3) Consul General Maher meets deputy governor for exchange of views on Futenma, etc.; Confirms prefecture's stance based on assembly replies (4) Interview with former Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba on North Korea (5) Defense Ministry considering setting up PKO center (6) Examining the ABE administration (Part 2): Keeping appropriate distance from Kasumigaseki essential (7) Government, opposition parties engage in heated debate over social disparity, each side presenting own data (8) Idea of democratization in China might be an illusion ARTICLES: (1) Editorial: We are concerned about no Cheney-Kyuma meeting MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) February 23, 2007 During his visit to Japan, US Vice President Dick Cheney in his meetings Prime Minister SHINZO ABE and Foreign Minister Taro Aso agreed to further strengthen the Japan-US alliance relationship. Referring in particular to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs, Cheney said that cooperation between Japan and the United States was "extremely important." Commenting on the abduction issue, he stated, "Resolving the tragedy of abductees is a common challenge for Japan and the United States." The vice president also met with Shigeru Yokota and his wife on Feb. 22 immediately before he left for Australia. Shigeru Yokota is the representative of the association of the families of abductees. At the recent round of the six party talks, agreement was reached that energy aid would be provided to North Korea in return for the North's decision to abandon its nuclear programs. Japan's position is that it will not extend assistance unless progress is made on the abduction issue. There is the view concerning that if Japan focuses too much on the abduction issue, it will be isolated from other six-party members. Cheney's remark about the abduction issue being a common challenge for Japan and the US was an expression of his understanding for Japan's position. The Japan-North Korea working group under the six-party talks will soon start meeting. It is laudable that Japan and the United States were able to confirm bilateral cooperation on the North Korea issue. The main purpose of the vice president's trip to Japan was to discuss security issues. However, it is regrettable that a meeting between the vice president and Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma did not take place. TOKYO 00000784 002 OF 010 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07 Kyuma criticized the US government's decision to start the war in Iraq as a "mistake." He also wanted changes in the Japan-US agreement on building a V-shaped runway on the coast of Camp Schwab in Nago City as the alternate facility for Futenma Air Station. Kyuma, commenting on the US, which has not accepted any revisions, said, "The US should not talk so high-handedly." The government explained that Cheney's tight schedule did not allow him to hold a meeting with Kyuma, but Cheney held talks with senior Self-Defense Forces (SDF) officials, besides the prime minister and foreign minister. It is only natural to assume that the US government was unhappy with Kyuma's remarks and thus refused to hold a meeting between the two. On the question of the relocation of the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, it is reasonable for the central government to make efforts to persuade local municipalities to accept the bilateral agreement. Kyuma's comment, though, lacked consideration for the United States. In order to play up the need to strengthen the bilateral alliance Tokyo and Washington should have aimed at realizing a Cheney-Kyuma meeting with both sides making a diplomatic effort. The government has submitted to the Diet a bill to promote the realignment of US forces in Japan. The bill includes Japan's share of about six billion dollars for base relocations within Japan, as well as the move of 8,000 US Marines in Okinawa to Guam. A total figure has yet to be set. So there are many issues that should have been discussed with the US. On the Iraq issue, ABE told Cheney: "Japan also will support Iraq through Air Self-Defense Force personnel's operations and official development assistance (ODA) programs." The Iraq Special Measures Law will expire on July 31. Japan will now begin major debate in the Diet on whether to extend ASDF operations in Iraq. There are many security issues, including missile defense (MD),to address. Cooperation between Japan and the United States in dealing with the North Korea issue also is crucial. Since Kyuma took over the defense minister's portfolio, no Japan-US Security Consultative Committee (2 plus 2) meeting has been held. Such a meeting should be held as early as possible, and efforts should be made to ease the strained ties between Tokyo and Washington. (2) Editorial: Abe, Cheney underline importance of enhanced Japan-US alliance that requires constant efforts YOMIURI (Page 3) (Full) February 23, 2007 Prime Minister SHINZO ABE and US Vice President Dick Cheney highlighted the importance of the Japan-US alliance, possibly because the bilateral alliance is faced with difficulties. In his meeting with Cheney, ABE described the Japan-US alliance as irreplaceable for the world and Asia. Cheney reaffirmed America's unwavering commitment to the alliance with Japan. A functional alliance takes ceaseless efforts by the two sides. This applies to the latest six-party agreement aimed at North TOKYO 00000784 003 OF 010 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07 Korea's nuclear dismantlement and the abduction issue. Some take the view that the United States has softened its stance toward North Korea and effectively accepted direct dialogue with that country. Although North Korea does not possess any missiles capable of landing in the continental United States, its Rodong missiles target Japan. There is a huge gap in perceptions of a North Korean nuclear threat between Japan and the United States. The United States is busy dealing with the Iraq quagmire. In Japan, there is skepticism about the United States' commitment to convince North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons and programs. Abe and Cheney confirmed that close cooperation between Japan and the United States is extremely important. The two countries must realize the complete abolition of Pyongyang's nuclear programs. The six-party agreement stipulates that the United States will begin work to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terror. Developing nuclear weapons and missiles and abducting foreign nationals are typical acts of state-sponsored terrorism. Removing North Korea from the US list of nations sponsoring terrorism is tantamount to leaving Japan behind. We assume that Cheney referred to the abduction issue as a common cause of Japan and the United States with such apprehension in mind. Although Cheney expressed his gratitude for the Air Self-Defense Force's assistance in Iraq, he did not meet Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, which was absurd. Kyuma described Washington's decision to launch the Iraq war as a mistake. He also said, "The United States must not make high-handed remarks about the relocation of Futenma Air Station." Cheney's decision not to see Kyuma apparently reflected Washington's displeasure. The Japan-US alliance is vital. Kyuma must watch his tongue so as not to undermine the nation's interests. Abe and Cheney also confirmed the need for Japan-US alliance-based responses to the rapidly changing situation in East Asia. The alliance must be enhanced further. (3) Consul General Maher meets deputy governor for exchange of views on Futenma, etc.; Confirms prefecture's stance based on assembly replies RYUKYU SHIMPO Evening, February 22 US Consul General for Okinawa Kevin Maher this morning called on Vice Governor of Okinawa Prefecture Zenki Nakazato at the prefectural building. In their exchange of views, Maher asked Nakazato about the prefecture's thinking, centered on the governor's replies during the prefectural assembly session that opened Feb. 21 TOKYO 00000784 004 OF 010 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07 about Futenma Air Station's relocation and other issues. It is unusual for a local representative of a foreign government to ask to meet a senior prefectural official when the prefectural assembly is in session. After the meeting, Nakazato noted: "We exchanged views on the current situation. He wanted to ask such questions as what issues would be in the spotlight in the assembly, and what was the prefectures' thinking in facing the assembly." Nakazato revealed he had informed Maher that questions have been raised about the Futenma relocation issue and that he had conveyed the prefecture's thinking regarding the planned return of bases as part of the realignment of US forces in Japan. Nakazato stressed that the prefectural government's perception of an early relocation of the Futenma airfield is consistent with those of the Japanese and US governments. The vice governor added that he had expressed his regret over the issue of the US military's paint balls, which had been found at a northern Okinawa dam. According to a senior prefectural official, the request for the meeting with Nakazato came from the consulate general on Feb. 21. The official said: "I assume that the United States wants to know what's going on behind the scenes. I think that means that the United States is paying attention (to Okinawa's posture)." After the meeting with Nakazato, Maher simply said: "We exchanged views on a variety of matters." (4) Interview with former Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba on North Korea YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full February 23, 2007 Maintaining the framework of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs is significant. In the latest six-party talks, an agreement was reached. But Japan is not totally happy with it because it stopped short of ensuring that North Korea will eliminate its nuclear and missile threats. Nevertheless, it is better than an embattled North Korea getting out of control. I can give a positive assessment to the fact that the six-party talks were able to maintain the framework of multilateral talks with North Korea. North Korea has gone nuclear based on its own unique national strategy, so there is no reason for it to easily abandon its nuclear weapons and programs. The Japanese government, too, must come up with long-term plans and a national strategy for settling the issue. In my view, settling the North Korean issue will take at least 10 years. Busy dealing with issues in Middle Eastern countries, such as Iraq and Iran, the United States' attention to North Korea is limited and it cannot afford to take military action against the North. Given the situation, it would be one approach for the four six-party members excluding Japan to extend massive energy and food aid to North Korea to prompt it to open up its heart to the international community to change its system. At the same time, Japan needs to make preparations against terrorist and nuclear attacks. We can learn much from Sweden, a country with legislation requiring its people to install shelters and conduct TOKYO 00000784 005 OF 010 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07 evacuation drills. Above all, it is important to enhance a relationship of trust with the United States. Japan is counting on the United States in dealing with North Korea. Lawmakers of such a country must not criticize Washington's decision to launch the Iraq war as a mistake. I would like to see the terms of the Iraq Reconstruction Law and the Antiterrorism Special Measures Law extended and US forces in Japan, including Futenma Air Station in Okinawa, realigned, as was agreed upon with the United States. (5) Defense Ministry considering setting up PKO center SANKEI (Page 1) (Full) February 23, 2007 In order to smoothly implement the Self-Defense Forces' (SDF) participation in such overseas missions as the United Nations peacekeeping operations, the Defense Ministry has launched full-scale coordination to establish an International Peace Cooperation Operation Center (also called the PKO Center),which would conduct training, academic research and public relations activities. The ministry has decided to set up the PKO Center since the SDF's international peace cooperation activities (overseas missions) have become primary duties as the SDF Law was revised, following the upgrading of the status of the Defense Agency to a ministry. The ministry aims to include research expenses in a budget for fiscal 2008. It intends to work out details, including where the PKO Center should be set up, by the summer. The Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) plans to set up an international activities education unit, which would be in charge of education and training for overseas missions and which would come under the Central Readiness Command, which will be established in March. The ministry has decided to set up the PKO Center from the viewpoint that only GSDF personnel will be allowed to participate in the education unit and that it is necessary to create a comprehensive training facility jointly operated by the GSDF, the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) and the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) in order to immediately respond to requests from the international community. The PKO Center will also provide information about the international situation and language training to promote overseas missions by the GSDF, MSDF and ASDF in cooperation with the education unit. A senior Defense Ministry official said: "We want to enhance academic research and educational activities." So the ministry intends to use the PKO Center as a research base for peace-building by receiving trainees from other countries. The PKO Center will take charge of PR activities regarding the SDF's overseas missions. At present, ASDF troops are carrying out a mission for Iraq, MSDF troops in the Indian Ocean, and a PKO unit made up of mainly GSDF personnel participating in the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights. However, the significance of the SDF's overseas missions and how they carry them out are not known, so the PKO center will conduct PR activities. The Defense Ministry intends to bring its idea into being, referring to Canada's internationally recognized Pearson Peacekeeping Center, which provides research, education and training regarding TOKYO 00000784 006 OF 010 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07 ceasefire-monitoring operations. In 2002, the International Peace Cooperation Council, a private advisory organ to then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, proposed that the government and private sector jointly create a system to cultivate human resources. Following the proposal, the government once looked into the possibility of setting up a similar PKO center. However, the government was unable to coordinate views, since the issue related to the Defense Agency, the Cabinet Office and the National Police Agency, and as a result, it failed to establish a PKO center. (6) Examining the ABE administration (Part 2): Keeping appropriate distance from Kasumigaseki essential YOMIURI (Page 4) (Abridged) February 22, 2007 In late January, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki raised his voice to Health, Labor, and Welfare Vice Minister Tetsuo Tsuji, who expressed reluctance to establish a special system to provide subsidies to repatriated war-displaced Japanese in China. A decision by the Tokyo District Court on a class-action suit filed by a group of Japanese orphans left behind in China seeking compensation was only days away. In many cases, cash-strapped Japanese orphans are forced onto welfare once they return to Japan. Shiozaki undertook coordination at the order of Prime Minister SHINZO Abe, who said: "This is a matter that concerns human dignity. It must not be put in the framework of welfare." But the Welfare Ministry raised objections, saying: "They are not the only ones who are in dire situations because of the war. The legal welfare system would collapse if a special case was established." To reject the ministry's argument, Shiozaki said in the end: "Why don't you put your opinion on paper and convince the prime minister?" Immediately after the Tokyo District Court handed down a decision against the plaintiffs on Jan. 30, ABE ordered Welfare Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa to consider relief measures for the war-displaced. The ministry subsequently announced a plan to come up with specific measures by summer. Ever since its inauguration last fall, the ABE cabinet has been enamored with the idea of decision-making under the leadership of the Kantei (Prime Minister's Official Residence). ABE specifically eyes a system to coordinate and determine government policies in line with the prime minister's wishes by destroying the conventional sectionalism-oriented decision making system. Before the Lower House Budget Committee on Feb. 14, ABE said: "In reality, I think government agencies forced private firms closely linked to them to offer lucrative jobs to retiring officials. We are planning an investigation." Abe's comment conflicted with the government's view denying such a practice. Abe's reply was also aimed at a Kantei-led decision-making system. But some have begun pointing out the possibility of the ABE cabinet's obsession with a Kantei-led system taking a toll on smooth policy coordination. TOKYO 00000784 007 OF 010 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07 Secretary Yoshiyuki Inoue, who is responsible for coordinating the SIPDIS prime minister's schedule, has been strictly restricting senior officials' access to the prime minister. The aim was to prevent bureaucrats from pushing ahead with policies to suit their convenience by trumpeting the prime minister's seal of approval. A Yomiuri survey found that Prime Minister ABE has individually met the vice ministers of only five ministries: the Foreign Ministry (18 times); the Finance Ministry (six times); the Defense Ministry (four times); the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry (one time); and the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry (one time). Government officials are increasingly irritated with the low level of communication with the prime minister, as seen in a senior Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry official's complaint: "Information doesn't reach the prime minister. We don't know how the prime minister is getting information or what he is thinking about." Some ascribe the cabinet's poor policy coordination to Shiozaki, who is now solely responsible for receiving reports from all government agencies and has a hand in determining priority policies. Known as a micromanager in the Kasumigaseki bureaucratic district, Shiozaki assembles government officials even on holidays to draw up policies with them. "There are limits to what one individual can accomplish. Mr. Shiozaki works so hard and so long that he does not have the time to perform his main duty of doing the spadework in the government and the ruling coalition," a Kantei staffer noted. Unless the mental distance from Kasumigaseki is reviewed, the ABE administration eying a Kantei-led system might stumble along the way. (7) Government, opposition parties engage in heated debate over social disparity, each side presenting own data MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) February 22, 2007 The issue of social disparity has taken center stage in debate in the current Diet session. The government and the ruling camp have engaged in heated debate on the issue by presenting data as evidence to support their respective argument. The government insists that the social disparity issue should be redressed by means of economic growth, while the opposition side asserts that economic growth alone is insufficient to narrow the income gap. In a public hearing at the House of Representatives Budget Committee yesterday, too, no agreement was reached on this issue among experts. It seems difficult for both sides to find common ground. There might be no other means but for the voters to make a judgment in casting their ballots, based on hearing both sides' views. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of welfare recipient households, which was 630,000 in fiscal 1997, topped the one million household mark for the first time in fiscal ¶2005. In November 2006, the number climbed to 1.08 million households. According to a survey of households of two members or more conducted TOKYO 00000784 008 OF 010 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07 by the banking public relations central committee (with Secretariat in the Bank of Japan),those who replied they had no savings accounted for 10.2% in 1997, but this figure doubled in 2003 under the Koizumi administration. In the 2004 - 2006 period, the percentage reached the 22% level. Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) lawmaker Naoto Kan criticized the prime minister's lack of awareness of the social inequality problem, saying, "I want you to take careful note of the fact." In response, Prime Minister ABE displayed an indicator showing improvement in the job market. The unemployment rate dropped from the 5% level marked from 2001 to 2003 to 4.1% in 2006. The number of regular workers inched up to 34.08 million on average in the July - September period in 2006, marking the third consecutive quarterly rise. Even so, the rate of regular employees to total workers, which exceeded three-fourths in 1997, has decreased to about two-thirds, and instead, irregular workers have increased. In a public hearing, Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) Deputy Chief of Secretariat Naoto Omi stated, "As a result of companies promoting the replacement of employment status as cost-cutting measures, the income disparity is widening." Keio University Professor Haruo Shimada defended the government's growth strategy, remarking, "Reform and growth are indisputably the proper path the government should take to rectify the existing disparity." Regarding international comparison on income disparity, the government and opposition parties picked statistics that help to support their respective assertions from a report released in 2005 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) President Ozawa picked a list of relative percentages of those who earn less than half the average income level. According to this list, Japan ranked 5th among 27 countries, with a 15.3% percentage and far over the average percentage (10.4% ) of the OECD members. Among the G-7 nations, Japan comes in second, following the US. In a public hearing yesterday, Rengo Omi commented, "Poverty is apparently increasing even seen from an international point of view." Chief Cabinet Secretary Shiozaki offered a counterargument with the Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality defined as a ratio with values between O and 1. For instance, 0 corresponds to perfect income equality. Japan is 10th among 27 countries, with 0.31. Among the G-7 countries, Japan's figure is lower than those of the US, Italy, and Britain. Even so, the trend of expanding income disparity is also seen from government statistics. The 2006 Economic and Fiscal Policy White Paper worked out Cabinet Office pointed out that the income disparity has expanded among the same age bracket, according to the Gini coefficient worked out by age brackets based on labor income. In a meeting of the Lower House Budget Committee meeting on Feb. 13, Prime Minister ABE had to admit the widening of the income disparity, saying, "It has been shown that the income inequality is expanding among people in their 20s and 30s." (8) Idea of democratization in China might be an illusion ASAHI (Page 15) (Excerpts) TOKYO 00000784 009 OF 010 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07 February 22, 2007 Yoichi Kato, American Affairs Bureau director "Although the Chinese economy is growing, its political system is unlikely to undergo democratization." James Mann, a former Los Angeles Times correspondent well versed in Chinese affairs, made the above statement in the book The China Fantasy, which he authored and issued last week. In a public hearing in the US Congress early this month, Mann said, "US policy toward China is based on wrong views." This remark drew much attention. According to Mann, the US has come up with two scenarios regarding the future of China: that democracy will take root in China or that China will break apart. Mann calls his own view "a third scenario," adding that few have spoken of this "third scenario." Many people in the US believe that the first scenario will come true, citing these reasons: (1) China is now under the control of the Communist Party; (2) a middle class has been created in China; and (3) the Communist Party will have to give in to pressure from those in the middle class after both forces clash. Mann, though, deems the first scenario a "fantasy" on the grounds that because middle-class people in cities are still a minority in Chinese society, farmers are likely to take the initiative in running the state should a democratic election be held. This kind of view itself is not new, according to a China expert in Washington. In actuality, the book If China Is Not Democratized was already published in 2001. This expert regards as fresh Mann's call for policy debate out of the judgment that democratization is unlikely to make progress in China. When I met Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian in Taiwan early this month, I asked for his view about the possibility of democratization in China. He replied: "There are both positive and negative views. I believe that China will continue to grow only if it moves toward democratization." The Second Armitage Report, worked out by a panel of bipartisan Asian experts and released in Washington last week, is also based on the premise that "commitment" or "integration" policy with the aim of promoting democratization is applicable in mapping out a strategy toward China. Will China's political system be changed into a democratic one in which the presence of opposition parties is allowed? Even experts have not found the answer to this question yet. The US hopes to change the direction China is going to head in and the Bush administration's policy by improving the environment surrounding China. According to Mann, the main problem behind the integration policy is that "you never know whether the US has drawn China into the international economic order or China has drawn the US into the international political order in disregard of democracy." Mann, though, notes that he has "no answer" to the question of how the administration's current policy should be changed. This point is indisputably what has come under fire from experts. TOKYO 00000784 010 OF 010 SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02//07 In Washington, the Iraq war has taken center stage in policy debate. But with an eye on the presidential election in 2008, experts on foreign policy have turned to Asia, as represented by the Second Armitage Report and the establishment of a new think-tank to compile a comprehensive Asia policy under the lead of former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Campbell. However, US major newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, have not reported on the Armitage Report and Mann's new book at all. It is interesting to see what effect the stir created by Mann will have on the Bush administration's policy toward China and Asia. Regardless, interest in Asia policy is unlikely to grow in the US for a while. DONOVAN