CRITICISM ON CHINA,S RESPONSE TO TIBET ESCALATING

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 001093 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM CH JA SUBJECT: CRITICISM ON CHINA,S RESPONSE TO TIBET ESCALATING Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Foreign Minister Koumura raised Tibet with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang on April 17, and senior ruling party and opposition politicians have stepped up public criticism on China's handling of the demonstrations in Tibet in the past several days. Increased concern about protests and public safety prompted Japan to scale back events related to the Nagano Olympic torch relay. MOFA told Embassy Tokyo that China needs to understand it is not possible to prevent demonstrations similar to those in San Francisco and Paris. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Foreign Minister Koumura raised Tibet with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on April 17 and urged Beijing to engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama "without any preconditions." Yang responded that the issue of Tibet is an "internal matter," according to Japanese media reporting. ¶3. (C) In a rare show of unit across party lines, both opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) head Ichiro Ozawa and senior Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) representative Shoichi Nakagawa stepped up public criticism of China's handling of Tibet. On April 17 a group of LDP conservative politicians, led by Nakagawa, adopted a resolution criticizing the Chinese government's response to the situation in Tibet and urged Beijing to improve human rights. Ozawa also publicly criticized China's response to Tibet during a speech on April 17. He stated that, "set off by ethnic issues, the contradictions China holds have now come into the open. The existence of a communist autocratic government and political freedom do not go together." ¶4. (C) Citing concern over public safety and the likelihood of demonstrations over Tibet, Zenkoji Temple on April 18 announced that it would no longer serve as the starting point for the Nagano leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay. The torch-relay organizing committee is considering changing the relay route and possibly cutting it short, according to the press. In addition, approximately 2,000 Nagano police officers and an additional 800 officers from neighboring prefectures will be on hard to provide security. Nagano City also cancelled an event in front of Minami Nagano Sports Park due to security concerns. ¶5. (C) Japan has increased security measures and taken steps to tighten immigration procedures with the aim of preventing demonstrators from interfering with the April 26 torch relay. Beijing needs to understand, however, that Japan respects freedom of speech, and it is not possible to prevent protests from taking place at the torch relay, MOFA China Division Principal Deputy Director Kazuya Endo told Embassy Tokyo on April 17. SCHIEFFER