(U) Secretary Rice's February 27, 2008 Working

S E C R E T PARTO 022806

(Note: the unique message record number (MRN) has been modified. The original MRN was 08 PARTO 000006, which duplicates a previous PARTO telegram number.)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2018
TAGS: OVIP RICE CONDOLEEZZA PREL EINV SENV ECON
EAID, AF, JA
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Rice's February 27, 2008 Working
Dinner with Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura

(U) Classified by: Uzra Zeya, Deputy Executive
Secretary, S/ES, Department of State. Reasons 1.4.(b)
and (d)


1. (U) February 27, 2008; 8:00 p.m.; Tokyo, Japan.


2. (U) Participants:

United States
The Secretary
Amb. J. Thomas Schieffer
A/S Sean McCormack, PA
Lt Gen William Fraser III, Assistant to the Chairman, JCS
NSC Senior Director for East Asian Affairs Dennis Wilder
Pol/Mil Chief Raymond Greene (Embassy Notetaker)

JAPAN
Masahiko Koumura, Foreign Minister
Kenichiro Sasae, Deputy Foreign Minister
Masaharu Kohno, Deputy Foreign Minister
Shinichi Nishimiya, Director General, North American
Affairs Bureau, MOFA
Makita Shimokawa, Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister
Kanji Yamanouchi, Director, First North American Affairs
Division, MOFA
Mayumi Fukushima, Official, First North American Affairs
Division, MOFA


3. (C) SUMMARY: During a February 27 dinner with the
Secretary, Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura
urged the United States and Japan to cooperate closely on
climate change in the lead-up to the July G-8 summit in
Hokkaido. Koumura and the Secretary agreed that any
successful framework would need to reflect the
appropriate balance between environmental protection and
economic development. Koumura pledged continued Japanese
cooperation on Iran's nuclear program, noting that
diplomacy could succeed only if the international
community spoke with a single voice. The Secretary
encouraged Japan, as G-8 host, to make responsible
governance a centerpiece of discussions on African
development. END SUMMARY.

-------------- -
Climate Change: Creating a Realistic Framework
-------------- -


4. (C) Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura opened
the February 27 dinner meeting with the Secretary by
highlighting the importance of U.S.-Japan cooperation on
climate change in the lead-up to the July G-8 summit in
Hokkaido. Koumura said there were many valuable lessons
from the failure of the Kyoto Protocol, a process Koumura
was personally involved in negotiating. This time
around, Japan seeks a framework that will facilitate
equitable and achievable, medium-term reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions. In order to do so, he added,


Japan will propose a bottom-up, sectoral approach that
will leverage new technologies.


5. (C) The Secretary welcomed Koumura's offer, and noted
that the two major problems with the Kyoto approach were
that it left major developing countries like India and
China out and, if fully implemented, it would have
destroyed the U.S. economy. The Secretary emphasized the
role emerging technologies will play in addressing the
challenge of climate change. Three years ago, she
continued, venture capital firms in Silicon Valley were
putting their money into information technology. Today,
most venture capital in the area is being channeled into
alternative energy technology. The Secretary and Foreign
Minister agreed that only a framework that balances
environmental protection with economic growth will have a
chance of being implemented by all of the major
economies. In this context, the Secretary offered to
start early senior bilateral consultations to prepare for
G-8 discussions in July.

--------------
Iran: United Front Crucial
--------------


6. (S) The Secretary stated that urgent actions are
needed by the international community in response to
developments in Iran's nuclear program. The Secretary
praised Japan's decision to reduce investment and deny
export credits, but noted that expanded economic
interaction by China and some European countries is
sending the wrong message. While the United States and
its allies will continue to press for stronger UNSC
sanctions, the Secretary noted that financial measures
taken by the United States, EU, and Japan are even more
effective. Unilateral U.S. sanctions on financial
transactions involving the Revolutionary Guards and Quds
Force have led banks around the world to downgrade their
interactions with Iran's financial sector. This has had
a measurable effect on Iran's overall economy.


7. (S) Foreign Minister Koumura said Japan fully
supported U.S. efforts to increase international pressure
on Iran. Koumura offered his personal assessment that
the UNSC's failure to send a unified message to Saddam
Hussein left the United States no choice but to resort to
military force against Iraq. The international
community, and the UNSC in particular, should not forget
this lesson as it approaches Iran's nuclear activities,
he said.

--------------
Responsible Development for Africa
--------------


8. (C) The Secretary commented that another fertile area
for U.S.-Japan cooperation was economic development in


Africa. Both the United States and Japan, she observed,
placed a particular emphasis on ensuring that aid money
was effectively utilized. In the past, a large portion
of foreign aid to the continent was wasted. Countries
like Benin, Ghana, and Tanzania are only now starting
down the path of sustainable economic development because
past leaders had siphoned off decades of aid money for
themselves and their supporters. Under President Bush,
she added, U.S. aid to Africa had increased four-fold.
The President has emphasized in particular the
eradication of preventable diseases like malaria and AIDS
as well as small grants to promote education.


9. (C) Koumura agreed that the United States and Japan,
more so than other donor countries, were best positioned
to help Africa meet both basic needs and achieve
sustained economic growth. In May, he noted, Japan would
host the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African
Development (TICAD). TICAD was established in 1993 to
apply the lessons of Asia's economic development to
Africa. The basic philosophy behind TICAD, Koumura
continued, was combining ownership and partnership. Just
as Asian countries developed through a combination of
self-initiative and partnership with aid donors like
Japan, African governments too should be given ownership
of their countries' economic futures.


10. (C) The Secretary and Foreign Minister agreed that
the United States and Japan needed to convince other
donor countries to reassess their approaches to African
development assistance. Koumura noted that European
countries tend to feel pity for the poor and tgive them
fish.v The United States and Japan shared the view that
it was better to teach the poor the skills needed to fish
for themselves. The Secretary said that it was also
important to press China to be more responsible in its
aid programs for Africa. All too often, she continued,
we saw China building palaces for dictators in countries
where people lacked basic requirements like running
water. Koumura said he frequently urged Chinese leaders
to abide by the international donor community's standards
and objectives.


11. (C) Looking ahead to G-8 discussions on the topic,
the Secretary encouraged Japan to highlight good
governance in discussions on Africa. Koumura noted that
at the 2000 G-8 summit in Okinawa, leaders pledged to
devote attention and resources to three major health
challenges -{ malaria, AIDS, and TB {- with measurable
results. This time, Koumura suggested leaders commit to
fund training for basic health care providers and address
tropical diseases that may have received insufficient
attention in the past. The Secretary endorsed these
proposals and observed that the President recently
announced USD 350 million in funds for neglected tropical
diseases like Guinea worm.
RICE