SEN. LIEBERMAN'S MEETINGS WITH JAPANESE POLITICIANS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 001517 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV SENV OVIP JA SUBJECT: SEN. LIEBERMAN'S MEETINGS WITH JAPANESE POLITICIANS Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer; Reasons: 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) Summary. During a May 28 visit to Tokyo, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) exchanged views on climate change, Japanese politics, and regional security with ranking Diet Members from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Senator Lieberman underscored that the cornerstone of U.S. Asia policy should be close cooperation with democratic partners like Japan, Korea, Australia, and India. He also discussed his work in the Senate to create a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse emissions. On domestic politics, LDP legislator and former Foreign Minister Taro Aso told Lieberman that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is intent on hosting the G-8 Summit in July, but his political longevity after that is very much an open question. DPJ Vice President Seiji Maehara focused on his efforts to create a post-Kyoto emissions cap/trade system for Japan and shared concerns over the current DPJ leadership on security policy. LDP politician and former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike registered caution over China's military build-up and efforts to drive a wedge between the United States and Japan. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) met separately with leading ruling and opposition Diet Members on May 28 to discuss Japanese politics, climate change, and regional security. In all three meetings, the Senator highlighted his strong support for the U.S.-Japan Alliance, and view that cooperation among the United States, Japan, Korea, Australia, and India should be the cornerstone of U.S. policy in the region. He also noted his commitment to tackling climate change, outlining efforts in the current Senate session to enact legislation to create an emissions cap and trade system. Japanese Politics -------------- ¶3. (C) LDP faction leader Taro Aso told the Senator that it is hard to predict how long Prime Minister Fukuda will remain in office. No one expects Fukuda to lead the LDP into the next General Election, Aso said, which must be held before September 2009. Fukuda's overriding concern, he continued, is to stay on through the G-8 Summit, noting that Fukuda's father was forced to step down as Prime Minister on the eve of a major summit meeting in 1978. ¶4. (C) Aso said that everyone expects Fukuda to at least reshuffle his Cabinet after the Summit, but he did not rule out the possibility that Fukuda would step down himself. At this stage, Aso commented that it is unclear who in the LDP will tell Fukuda when it is time to go. If Fukuda were to reshuffle key party positions in addition to the Cabinet after the G-8, however, many in the LDP would conclude that he intends to lead the ruling coalition into an election and provoke a sharp negative reaction from within the party. ¶5. (C) Aso commented that the Fukuda and like-minded LDP "liberals" are increasingly out of touch with mainstream public opinion, especially over China policy. People like Aso and former Prime Minister SHINZO Abe, who he said place the U.S.-Japan Alliance at the core of Japan's foreign policy, used to be considered conservatives. "Now we are in the center," Aso continued, of public opinion heavily influenced by issues like food safety and North Korea's nuclear threat. ¶6. (C) DPJ Vice President Seiji Maehara noted that there is uncertainty in both the ruling and opposition camps over who should lead the party into the next election. On the LDP side, Aso clearly enjoys the most public support, but has many enemies within his own party. Maehara suggested that the LDP may settle instead on someone like former Chief Cabinet Secretary Kaoru Yosano or LDP Policy Chief Sadakazu Tanigaki. As for the DPJ leadership election in September, Maehara said that it was important to find a figure who can TOKYO 00001517 002 OF 002 challenge Party President Ichiro Ozawa on his policy platform without causing the DPJ to split along ideological lines. ¶7. (C) Maehara downplayed, but did not dismiss, prospects for the emergence of a third party centered around former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Maehara acknowledged that he has discussed the current political impasse with Koizumi, commenting that Koizumi's overriding concern is the health of the nation rather than that of the LDP. Nevertheless, Maehara assessed that the single-member constituency electoral system would deter many politicians from running in the next election without support from one of the two major parties. Maehara noted that ideological divisions and gridlock, however, could lead to a political realignment between the two major camps at some point in the near future. Climate Change -------------- ¶8. (C) Maehara said that, like the Senator, he is devoting considerable time to promoting Japanese participation in a post-Kyoto international cap and trade system on carbon emissions. Maehara noted that the strongest resistance in Japan has come from the steel industry, which fears losing market share to Chinese and Indian companies that do not face stringent environmental regulations. Sen. Lieberman responded that many Senators he has spoken with raise similar concerns. In order to address this issue, the Senator included language in the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (CSA) that would impose tariffs on countries that do not regulate emissions for their domestic industries. The language was crafted, he added, in a way that seeks consistency with World Trade Organization (WTO) standards. Regional Security -------------- ¶9. (C) All three Diet members endorsed Sen. Lieberman's concept of the United States, Japan, Australia, and India working together to tackle regional security challenges, including China. Both Aso and Koike registered concern that China is seeking to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Japan in order to expand its influence in the region. Koike commented that, with tensions reduced in the Taiwan Strait following the election of KMT President Ma Ying-jeou, China may re-focus its military's attention "to the north and east." In order to manage the rise of China and Russia, Aso said it was crucial for the United States and Japan to keep in lock-step. Aso noted that the U.S. and Japan together control 40 percent of global GDP, providing the Alliance overwhelming influence in the region. The U.S.-Japan Alliance is currently healthy, he continued, but it requires constant attention. Like an old marriage, Aso stated, it is important for the two parties not to take the relationship for granted to avoid the risk of a divorce. ¶10. (C) The DPJ's Maehara said that the U.S.-Japan Alliance would remain strong if his party came to power. That said, he expressed concern over DPJ President Ozawa's insistence on limiting the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) only to UN-approved missions. Such a stance, he continued, would greatly reduce a future Prime Minister's ability to cooperate effectively with the United States. SCHIEFFER