DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 05/19/08

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 001364 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 05/19/08 INDEX: (1) Appointments requiring Diet approval likely to again come into focus in Diet, which is to close in less than ONE month (Nikkei) (2) Japan to host ministerial meeting on Northeast Africa on sidelines of upcoming TICAD (Nikkei) (3) EPA with Indonesia: Agreement reached in principle to start in July; Nurses, care-givers to be accepted (Nikkei) (4) MOD reform plan hard to understand; Establishing a body assisting the defense minister a priority (Yomiuri) (5) Reporters' eyes: My views about reporters' assertions on poisoning of dumplings imported from China (Mainichi) (Corrected copy) Ruling parties team agree on revisions to law that would penalize by imprisonment even the simple possession of child pornography (Tokyo Shimbun) ARTICLES: (1) Appointments requiring Diet approval likely to again come into focus in Diet, which is to close in less than ONE month NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) May 19, 2008 Appointments of government agency posts requiring approval from both chambers of the Diet are likely to again draw attention in the final days of the Diet. In addition to the still vacant post of deputy Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor, it is necessary to get Diet approval during the current session of the Diet for several posts, some of which will be vacated due to the expiration of the term in the fall and some of which will be established in the fall. In the ruling bloc, an idea is being floated of establishing a provision specifying the Lower House's superiority over the Upper House regarding Diet-approval requiring posts, but it appears difficult to amend the law hurriedly at this point in time. If the ruling bloc fails to obtain understanding from the opposition bloc about appointments to those posts, some appointments may be deferred to the next session of the Diet. Government, ruling bloc rushing to come out with appointments to 25 posts in 9 government bodies "We must reveal all appointments to the Diet by the end of May," ONE government source said, referring to the question of appointments to 25 posts in nine government bodies of which the government and the ruling bloc would like to obtain Diet approval during the current Diet session. It takes at least two weeks to go through the proceedings to obtain Diet approval. If the term of the current Diet session, which is to close on June 15, is not extended, the government and the ruling bloc need to fix the appointments by the end of May. Otherwise, more vacant posts will be created. Deputy BOJ post highest priority The highest priority post is the deputy BOJ governor, which has been vacant since Masaaki Shirakawa was promoted from deputy governor to governor. A troika management style among the governor and the two TOKYO 00001364 002 OF 009 deputy governors at the bank is the usual management style there. The government's strong desire is to present a new proposal to appoint someone to the post, along with its proposals for appointments to other government body posts, so that the vacancy of the deputy governor will be filled swiftly. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told reporters on May 14: "The sooner the better." The government and the ruling parties, however, have yet to recover from the legacy of the month of turmoil over the appointment of the BOJ governor in March. A government source was cautious about (submitting a proposal to appoint someone to the deputy BOJ governor post),noting, "We are afraid to show the appointment plan if the situation remains the same, namely, even after an agreement was reached with a senior DPJ leader, the DPJ could upset it." The government and the ruling camp envision even the possibility of deferring the appointment to the deputy BOJ governor post to the next extraordinary session of the Diet. Appointments to posts related to a new personnel exchange system between the government and the private sector is another headache for the government. The system, which is to be established on Oct. 1 with the aim of monitoring retired bureaucrats landing cushy jobs, is intended to consolidate management of reemployment of national civil servants. In this regard, five appointments to such posts as chair of the Committee to Monitor Reemployment, Etc. need to be determined, and those appointments are subject to Diet approval. The major opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),which is opposed to retired government officials getting plum jobs, is criticizing the system itself for the consolidation of management of reemployment of national civil servants. "The system can't be put into operation should the chair and the members of the committee not determined," ONE government official said embarrassedly. DPJ holds key The current Deposit Insurance Corporation's chair's term of office is to expire on June 23. If according to the precedent, the government comes out with a proposal to appoint a former Finance Ministry official to the post, it is highly likely that the proposal will be rejected by the DPJ. The ruling parties will hurriedly reduce the number of candidates for the post by examining moves by the DPJ over whether it will give the nod to the ruling bloc's proposed candidate. For the ruling bloc, reappointing the senior official whom the DPJ once approved may be ONE option, but the DPJ could turn around from approval to opposition as seen in the past cases. The ruling parties have yet to fully assess how the DPJ will react. Appointments of which the government wants to obtain Diet approval during the current session of the Diet Expiration date Titles Number of appointments Already vacated Deputy BOJ governor/member of the BOJ Policy Board 2 Member of NHK Management Committee 1 June 23 Governor of Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan (DICP) 1 June 25 Board member of DICP 1 June 26 Chair of National Offenders Rehabilitation Commission 1 June 30 Member of Labor Insurance Appeal Committee 1 July 4 Members of Land Appraisal Committee 7 Sept. 30 Members of Council on Information Disclosure/Protection of TOKYO 00001364 003 OF 009 Privacy 3 Oct. 1 (New and additional establishment of committees, etc.) Chair and members of Committee to Monitor Reemployment 5 Members of Committee on Transport and Safety (Which will be a reorganized committee of the Aviation and Railway Accidents Survey Committee) with C 3 (2) Japan to host ministerial meeting on Northeast Africa on sidelines of upcoming TICAD NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) May 19, 2008 Japan will host a ministerial meeting to discuss how to bring stability to Northeast Africa, including Sudan, on the sidelines of the upcoming Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama City, which opens on May 28. Tokyo also is making arrangements to host another ministerial meeting to urge Israel and the Palestinian Authority to work together to bring peace to the Middle East late June or early July by inviting both sides to the conference. Through these efforts, Japan aims to hurriedly produce actual results so that Japan will become a peace fostering nation. Tokyo expects 10 countries, including Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Central African Republic, to join the ministerial session to discuss stability in Northeast Africa. Japan will ask foreign ministers of African countries who are to travel to Japan to attend the TICAD to take part in the ministerial meeting. Countries located in Northeast Africa include countries whose political situation is unstable, for instance, Sudan, where civil war, including genocide in Darfur, is continuing, and Kenya, which was thrown into turmoil over the presidential election early this year. Japan will build a dialogue with each country and is preparing to issue a chairman's statement that will call on them to promote confidence-building. To help the peace process in the Middle East, Tokyo aims to realize ministerial-level talks among Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Japan. Tokyo has already asked relevant officials concerned to attend the four-way talks. This framework will follow the last ONE formed in August 2007, and Tokyo expects Israeli Foreign Minister Livni, a relevant minister of the Palestinian Authority, Jordanian Foreign Minister Bashir and others to attend the talks. In the session, participants are expected to discuss how to give shape to the idea of creating the "Corridor for Peace and Prosperity" advocated by Japan and measures to ease the tensions. Ministerial conferences on Northeast Africa as well as peace in the Middle East are both intended to put into effect Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's concept of making Japan a peace fostering nation. Both matters are likely to take center stage in the upcoming Group of Eight Hokkaido Toyako Summit, so Japan wants to demonstrate its stance of proactively contributing to resolving those issues. As for the situation in Sudan, in early May, Japan sent Senior Vice Foreign Minister Itsunori Onodera and Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Yasuhide Nakayama to Sudan, and it decided to offer TOKYO 00001364 004 OF 009 some 2 billion yen in aid to Sudan over the next four years starting this year. Japan is also in the final phase of coordiantion to send Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel to the United Nations peacekeeping operations in Sudan. However, the initial group of SDF personnel will be sent solely to serve at PKO headquarters, and it is less likely that SDF personnel will take part in full-fledged ground troops in the country. Hosting the ministerial session on Northeast Africa is also intended for Japan to "make up for its slow action when it comes to participation in PKO in Sudan," a senior Foreign Ministry official said. (3) EPA with Indonesia: Agreement reached in principle to start in July; Nurses, care-givers to be accepted NIKKEI (Page 5) (Full) May 17, 2008 Japan will start accepting foreign workers under an economic partnership agreement (EPA). An EPA between Japan and Indonesia under which Japan agrees to accept a total of 1,000 nurses and care-givers was approved by an Upper House plenary session on May ¶16. Both governments then held working-level talks and agreed in principle to start implementation of the pact in July. The labor shortage in the nursing and nursing-care areas is expected to become more serious due to Japan's declining birthrate and aging society. Many are of the opinion that the future of social security depends on whether Japan can successfully open its labor market. The touchstone will be whether Japan brings in more guest workers from Indonesia and the system becomes established. Memorandum to be signed, possibly on the 19th: ONE step taken toward open labor market The governments of Japan and Indonesia are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would allow formal implementation of the EPA in July. There is no need for Indonesia to undergo parliamentary procedures for ratification. Once the MOU is signed, Japan will solicit hospitals and nursing-care facilities that wish to accept Indonesian workers. Indonesia will recruit nurses and care-givers who wish to work in Japan. Government agencies of both countries will serve as brokers and assign workers to hospitals and nursing-care facilities. The number of foreign workers in Japan has increased to about 750,000, double the number a decade ago. However, 80 PERCENT of those workers are students, trainees or skilled labor trainees. Only 20 PERCENT are allowed in as experts in special technical areas. To begin with, care-givers are not categorized as belonging to this professional area. There is almost no track record of nurses being accepted, either. The EPA has a potential of serving as a breakthrough in revamping Japan's labor market, which is said to be closed. The reason that the nursing and nursing-care fields have been chosen as an area for market-opening is because elderly people who receive services in those areas are expected to increase rapidly. However, the young labor force that provides such services is decreasing in Japan. The Japanese Council of Senior Citizens Welfare Service consisting of nursing-care facilities has been making a public appeal that foreign workers are indispensable. TOKYO 00001364 005 OF 009 However, there are many challenges regarding whether the workers, once accepted, will settle into their work places. Indonesian nurses and care-givers have to work as assistants with relatively low wages before they can obtain Japanese licenses as qualified nurses and care-givers. They must return home unless they pass the national examination during their periods of stay -- three years for nurses and four years for care-givers. Hospitals and nursing-care facilities are to provide training opportunities. However, the barriers for foreigners aiming to pass written examinations in Japanese are high. It would be necessary to provide them with a solid assistance system. Liberalization of trade in items stipulated in the pact is certain to be implemented, in addition to the acceptance of nurses and care-givers. Indonesia will scrap import tariffs up to 15 PERCENT imposed on electric and electronic equipment by 2010. Tariffs up to 60 PERCENT imposed on automobiles and trucks will be eliminated by ¶2016. Japan will also immediately abolish tariffs on almost all mined and manufactured goods and tariffs up to about 5 PERCENT on shrimps. No tariffs will be levied on bananas up to 1,000 tons a year. In addition, in order for Japan to secure stable imports of natural gas and mineral resources, Indonesia will inform of Japan in advance in the event of its introducing a new regulation. The EPA also includes bilateral cooperation on coal liquefaction and energy-saving technologies. (4) MOD reform plan hard to understand; Establishing a body assisting the defense minister a priority YOMIURI (Page 15) (Abridged slightly) May 17, 2008 By Hidemichi Katsumata, Yomiuri senior writer Main points ? The Ministry of Defense's (MOD) review work simultaneously covers matters that must be addressed immediately and challenges that can wait. ? Reform of MOD must begin with upgrading the Council on Reform of the Defense Ministry to a permanent body placed directly under the defense minister. The MOD's reform promotion team is scheduled to present next week its own reform plan to the Council on Reform of the Defense Ministry, established in the Prime Minister's Office. Problems associated with the underreported amount of Japanese fuel provided to a U.S. supply ship in the Indian Ocean, the recent Aegis destroyer's collision with a fishing boat, and a scandal involving a former vice-defense minister have all exposed poor communications between the civilian group (internal bureaus) and the uniformed SDF staff offices. The vice-defense minister also has too much power in deciding on policies, procuring equipment, and appointing officials. There is no doubt that the MOD needs reform. In considering reform, there are two types of issues: those that must be addressed immediately and those that can wait until after a certain direction is set. I feel that those two aspects have become all mixed up in TOKYO 00001364 006 OF 009 the ministry's reform effort under Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The reason is because Ishiba has already come up with his reform plan, which is designed to reorganize the functions of bureaucrats and SDF personnel into three major components -- defense capability buildup, operations, and accountability to the public -- to establish a huge central organization composed of the civilian and uniformed groups. His plan is convincing to some extent. Ishiba said: "The Defense Ministry is hard to use. There is a need to consider a system that can assist the defense minister, who is an amateur." Reorganizing the MOD must not be a predetermined conclusion. In view of preventing misconducts by SDF personnel, reform must begin with discussing ways to strengthen the system to assist the defense minister. At present, in accordance with Article 12 of the Ministry of Defense Establishment Law, the vice-defense minister, the Minister's Secretariat director-general, and bureau-directors general first hear views from the SDF chiefs of staff on all matters from the SDF's basic plan to the operation of units before offering direct advice to the defense minister. In Japan's system, civilian officers are placed above uniformed officers, whereas in Western countries, civilian officers assist the defense chiefs with defense policies and military officers with military affairs. Japan's system derived from the National Police Reserve which was launched from bitter lessons learned from the military's reckless actions during the war. Civilian officers' domination over the SDF has eventually led to clumsy responses to emergency situations, such as the Aegis collision and the scandal involving the former vice-defense minister. To improve the communication level between the civilian and uniformed groups, a system and body must be created for the two groups to jointly assist the defense minister. To do so, the defense council, which has turned into a mere shell, must be upgraded to a permanent body directly reporting to the defense minister in accordance with the MOD establishment law. Reduced power of the vice-defense minister combined with a venue for a group of about 10 bureau directors general and SDF chiefs of staff to jointly advice the defense minister is certain to result in sound civilian control, becoming a symbol of the integration of the civilian and uniformed groups. The venue for MOD reform discussion will be shifted to the Council on Reform of the Defense Ministry composed of experts to produce a framework in late June. Reorganizing the central body can wait until after that. Some functions are overlapping between the internal bureaus and the SDF staff offices, and that incurs waste in such areas as defense capability buildup and defense exchanges. The MOD and SDF have been making efforts for two years now with the aim of integrating operations of the Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces. A variety of problems have been pointed out from the viewpoint of operation of units. More challenges are likely to crop up. The MOD is expected to arrive at answers to questions, such as ways to launch a body composed of civilian and uniformed personnel, in the process of addressing such challenges. (5) Reporters' eyes: My views about reporters' assertions on poisoning of dumplings imported from China TOKYO 00001364 007 OF 009 MAINICHI ONLINE (Full) May 16, 2008, 10:48 AM By Masami Kojima (member of the Daily Living Information Center) ?Viewpoint of crime needed - overconfidence in strengthened inspection dangerous In this column, a number of reporters have expressed views or assertions on the recent food-poisoning outbreak involving Chinese-made frozen dumplings. In analyzing the nature of the incident, I strongly feel that more should be added to their arguments. Reporter Wataru Yukitomo (in an article dated April 18) stressed the need to promote nutritional education. His argument is coincident with the ONE found in an article by reporter Inoue (dated April 4), in which he called for a mechanism that would contribute to raising the level of food safety even slightly. But no satisfactory debate has been conducted on the details of the proposed mechanism. Dominant in the media are also views calling for increasing testing of agrochemical residues. If a thorough inspection system had been introduced, would the poisoning outbreak have been prevented? It is highly suspected that the pesticide was intentionally mixed into the dumplings by other parties. The Japanese Consumers' Cooperative Union has decided to reduce the number of goods traded and increase the items subject to testing regarding agrochemical residues. But I am concerned about overconfidence in strengthening testing. Monitoring inspection is to check whether agrochemicals and addictives have been properly used. In a criminal case in which a poisonous substance is intentionally mixed into food, therefore, even if the frequency of testing and numbers of items subject to testing are increased, testing itself would be meaningless. Critics have pointed out that the cooperative union's inspection system to prevent food poisoning by pesticide residues or microorganisms was insufficient, but I do not think so. Products made by Tianyang Food Processing were found contaminated with pesticide. But even the Japanese Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Ministry acknowledged the superiority of its hygiene-maintenance system. The cooperative union examined its inspection system regarding agrochemical residues and other hazardous material at its plant first and then decided to entrust production to the company. An executive of a leading Japanese food business that was procuring stock for the cooperative union based on their tie-up contract grumbled: "The union was taking strict measures (for quality management),so we were having hard time working together with it." What should be done to prevent extraneous material or poison from being mixed into foods? We should reconfirm the importance of going back to the basic principle of process management, instead of vainly increasing samples in a monitoring inspection. The basic principle is to carefully check whether there is something abnormal or not in the stages of cultivation, shipment, processing, distribution, and sale of vegetable and other products. It is important to change our concept of "inspecting" food to a concept of monitoring the process, TOKYO 00001364 008 OF 009 assuming a possible crime. The United States has prepared guidelines against such crimes as food terrorism. To flexibly deal with such crimes, the U.S. has strengthened its monitoring system, with the aim of eventually preventing such crimes. Surveillance cameras should be installed at plants and stores. Strict checks should be conducted at the gateways, and uniforms with no pocket should be provided to plant workers. The know-how covers a wide-range of items and is detailed. Software efforts are expected to become necessary, for instance, to encourage farmers to thoroughly observe the laws relevant to the use of agricultural chemicals and the like. Officials in charge of food safety in the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare were aware of the importance of surveillance and crime-preventive measures. But the ministry and the Food Safety Commission did not fully disclose information on testing's limitation to preventing crimes and on measures to deal with intentional mixture of poisonous matter into foods. In the poisoning of Chinese frozen dumplings, the focus of attention tended to be on future options for the inspection system. But the focus should be on the cooperative union's lax management of information and lack of awareness about the importance of crisis management. As Chairman Toshifumi Yamashita said, although the cooperative union received a lot of complaints about dumplings giving off a terrible odor found in Miyagi and Fukushima last fall, the information did not reached its headquarters. Naturally, the information was not shared among consumers' cooperatives. Although complaints with similar contents had been made several times, there was no mechanism to check their connections. The food industry is now urged to establish mechanisms to share information, like the safety system of emergency information on side-effects of pharmaceuticals, as well as to provide information, in order to prevent a recurrence of similar mismanagement. In the first press conference held (on January 30) by the cooperative union and Japan Tobacco Inc. after the poisoning outbreak, their senior members gave explanations, but the explanations were insufficient, causing a chain of distrust in them. Though the incident involved human lives, the police did not properly relay the information to various sectors. This shows a lack of cooperation between the central government, and the relevant local governments and police stations. The dumpling scare resulted in exposing Japan's great dependence on China in terms of food supply and also left a number of tasks Japan should tackle. Such tasks include future options for its inspection and monitoring system, as well as information management. Even so, since the safety of frozen foods itself was not questioned, consumers have returned to such foods unexpectedly quickly. Consumers are behaving wisely while watching developments of the situation cool-headedly. Reporter Hideaki Nakamura posed questions in his article (dated February 14) about the proposed integration of consumer regulations. If we go ahead with hard-line arguments about future options for the TOKYO 00001364 009 OF 009 inspection system, as Nakamura pointed out, it will just bloat the central government bureaucracy. Each consumer must keep strict watch on food-related organizations or corporations, as well as on consumer policy. (Corrected copy) Ruling parties team agree on revisions to law that would penalize by imprisonment even the simple possession of child pornography TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Excerpt) May 17, 2008 The Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito's ruling parties project team to reconsider the child prostitution and child pornography law held a meeting on May 16 and reached general agreement on amending the law. Although the current version of the law does not ban the simple possession of child porno, such as photos or film obtained for one's personal hobby, this will be banned, and violations will be subject to imprisonment. SCHIEFFER