Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TOKYO1472
2008-05-29 01:54:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:
TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - QUAKE RELIEF IN CHINA
how-toVZCZCXRO5476 PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH DE RUEHKO #1472 1500154 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 290154Z MAY 08 FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4630 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA PRIORITY RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI//N541// PRIORITY RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA// PRIORITY RUHBANB/OKINAWA FLD OFC US FORCES JAPAN CP BUTLER JA PRIORITY RHMFIUU/USFJ PRIORITY INFO RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 8053 RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 0435 RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 6356 RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 8644 RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 1737 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3603 RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2319 RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 9604 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0049 RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS TOKYO 001472
SIPDIS
STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM;
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI;
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA;
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE;
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - QUAKE RELIEF IN CHINA
AND CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS
UNCLAS TOKYO 001472
SIPDIS
STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM;
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI;
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA;
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE;
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - QUAKE RELIEF IN CHINA
AND CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS
1. LEAD STORIES: All Thursday morning papers gave top
coverage to a GOJ decision to use SDF aircraft in
response to a Chinese request that Japan send relief
goods for victims hit by the recent massive earthquake
in central China.
2. "SDF Should Join Relief Efforts" On a Chinese
request for Japan to use SDF planes to airlift
earthquake relief supplies, the business-oriented
Nikkei editorialized (5/29): "It would be the first
time ever if SDF planes fly into China. Given a
prevalent sentiment among Chinese people that their
country was victimized by aggression of the Imperial
Japanese ARMY during WWII, the Chinese request is quite
unusual and epoch-making for bilateral relations.... On
top of the dispatch of ASDF aircraft, Japan should
study sending additional deployment of medics to
China."
3. "Japan as Neighbor Should Provide Utmost Assistance"
The liberal Mainichi argued in an editorial (5/29):
"Any state is nervous about a foreign military's entry
into its territory. No country is more allergic to
foreign armed forces than China. The fact that the
Chinese government has requested a deployment of SDF
planes illustrates that the damage caused by the quake
is more extensive than imagined. Japan must respond to
the Chinese request positively.... There is the
possibility that an SDF aircraft dispatch would go
beyond ceremonial military exchange, resulting in a big
push toward substantive confidence-building."
4. "Economic Exchange Given Priority to Build Stable
Relations" On Wednesday's meeting in Beijing between
Chinese President Hu and Taiwan's ruling Nationalist
Party Chairman Wu, the top-circulation, moderate
Yomiuri wrote (5/29): "By agreeing on the resumption of
bilateral dialogue through economic exchange while
setting aside contentious political issues, the Beijing
meeting set the basic tone for establishing stable
cross-strait relations under the China-friendly
Taiwanese President... Faced with such daunting
challenges as the unrest in Tibet and the massive
earthquake in central China, the Hu administration
needs to ensure regional stability, including relations
with Taiwan."
5. "Great Opportunity for China to Enhance Hu's
Political Standing" A Beijing correspondent for the
liberal Tokyo Shimbun noted (5/29): "An agreement
between the Chinese Communist Party and Taiwan's
Nationalist Party to resume talks for the first time in
nine years offers the Chinese an 'historic opportunity'
to end bilateral hostility. At the same time, it has
become a moment where the Hu administration, by playing
up the 'unity of the Chinese people,' is able to
restore its confidence and its solidarity with its
people, which have been damaged in the course of the
unrest in Tibet and the fatal quake in central China."
SCHIEFFER
SIPDIS
STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR,
EAP/J, EAP/P, PM;
USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE;
TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI;
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA;
CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE;
PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA
SUBJECT: TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - QUAKE RELIEF IN CHINA
AND CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS
1. LEAD STORIES: All Thursday morning papers gave top
coverage to a GOJ decision to use SDF aircraft in
response to a Chinese request that Japan send relief
goods for victims hit by the recent massive earthquake
in central China.
2. "SDF Should Join Relief Efforts" On a Chinese
request for Japan to use SDF planes to airlift
earthquake relief supplies, the business-oriented
Nikkei editorialized (5/29): "It would be the first
time ever if SDF planes fly into China. Given a
prevalent sentiment among Chinese people that their
country was victimized by aggression of the Imperial
Japanese ARMY during WWII, the Chinese request is quite
unusual and epoch-making for bilateral relations.... On
top of the dispatch of ASDF aircraft, Japan should
study sending additional deployment of medics to
China."
3. "Japan as Neighbor Should Provide Utmost Assistance"
The liberal Mainichi argued in an editorial (5/29):
"Any state is nervous about a foreign military's entry
into its territory. No country is more allergic to
foreign armed forces than China. The fact that the
Chinese government has requested a deployment of SDF
planes illustrates that the damage caused by the quake
is more extensive than imagined. Japan must respond to
the Chinese request positively.... There is the
possibility that an SDF aircraft dispatch would go
beyond ceremonial military exchange, resulting in a big
push toward substantive confidence-building."
4. "Economic Exchange Given Priority to Build Stable
Relations" On Wednesday's meeting in Beijing between
Chinese President Hu and Taiwan's ruling Nationalist
Party Chairman Wu, the top-circulation, moderate
Yomiuri wrote (5/29): "By agreeing on the resumption of
bilateral dialogue through economic exchange while
setting aside contentious political issues, the Beijing
meeting set the basic tone for establishing stable
cross-strait relations under the China-friendly
Taiwanese President... Faced with such daunting
challenges as the unrest in Tibet and the massive
earthquake in central China, the Hu administration
needs to ensure regional stability, including relations
with Taiwan."
5. "Great Opportunity for China to Enhance Hu's
Political Standing" A Beijing correspondent for the
liberal Tokyo Shimbun noted (5/29): "An agreement
between the Chinese Communist Party and Taiwan's
Nationalist Party to resume talks for the first time in
nine years offers the Chinese an 'historic opportunity'
to end bilateral hostility. At the same time, it has
become a moment where the Hu administration, by playing
up the 'unity of the Chinese people,' is able to
restore its confidence and its solidarity with its
people, which have been damaged in the course of the
unrest in Tibet and the fatal quake in central China."
SCHIEFFER