PRO-TAIWAN DIET GROUPS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 002376 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL TW JA SUBJECT: PRO-TAIWAN DIET GROUPS TOKYO 00002376 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: James P. Zumwalt, Charge d'Affaires, a.i., per 1.4 (b/d) Summary and Comment -------------- ¶1. (C) Japan's "unofficial" relationship with Taiwan has managed to thrive in the three decades since Japan's normalization with the Mainland thanks in large measure to frequent and long-standing contact between the Japanese Diet members and their counterparts in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. Five parliamentary groups are active in supporting Taiwan and boosting the Japan-Taiwan relationship. The oldest among them is the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) Youth Bureau, but the most influential is a non-partisan parliamentary group, the Japan-Republic of China Parliamentary Council ("Nikkakon"). It has played a significant role in managing Japan-Taiwan relations since Japan's official relationship with Taiwan ended with the normalization of Japan-China relations in September 1972. As the situation in and surrounding Japan and Taiwan has evolved over the years, three more active parliamentary groups were established. While the Nikkakon still plays a leading role in managing Japan-Taiwan relations, other groups provide more diverse voices regarding Taiwan and the bilateral relationship. Despite the groups' ideological and other differences, they share the common goal of "supporting Taiwan." Nikkakon -------------- ¶2. (C) The Japan-Republic of China Parliamentary Council (Nikka Giin Kondankai, or Nikkakon) was established by 27 LDP pro-Taiwan Diet members in March 1974, less than six months after the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic relations. The founding members included former Education Minister Hirokichi Nadao (Chairman),famous political fixer and so-called "don of the House of Councillors." Another prominent member was then-Diet member (and current Tokyo governor) Shintaro Ishihara. The founding purpose of the Nikkakon was to promote diplomatic and political contacts between Japan and Taiwan, and this group was instrumental in restoring the Japan-Taiwan air routes in 1975. ¶3. (C) Nikkakon's current Deputy Secretary General, Yasuhiro Oe (a former LDP member who recently split from the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)),told Embassy Tokyo that "Nikkakon is the only and best window for political contact between Japan and Taiwan." The group has about 150 members, including non-active ones, but the membership has decreased gradually from its heyday of 250 members in early 2000. Six core members, led by Rep. Takeo Hiranuma, mange the group and run the working-level consultation group established several years ago to communicate requests from the Taiwan government via the Taipei Representative Office in Tokyo to the Japanese government. The core members other than Hiranuma and Oe are Nikkakon Secretary General Takao Fujii, Nikkakon General Secretary Keiji Furuya, LDP Secretary General Taro Aso and former Defense Minister Tokuichiro Tamazawa. Other Japan-Taiwan Groups -------------- ¶4. (C) In addition to the non-partisan Nikkakon, there are four partisan pro-Taiwan groups. The LDP's groups are the party's Youth Bureau and the Young Diet Members' Association to Promote Japan-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Exchanges. The DPJ also has two groups: the Japan-Taiwan Friendship Parliamentary Council and the Japan-Taiwan Security and Economic Study Group. ¶5. (C) The LDP's Youth Bureau has as its counterpart Taiwan's ruling party's own youth bureau. Since the main purpose of the group is to promote exchanges, they have less of a lobbying role than the Nikkakon. The regular exchanges between the Youth Bureau and its counterpart in Taiwan began after the termination if the Japan-Taiwan official relationship and before the Nikkakon's foundation. According to Rep. Koichi Hagiuda, Secretary General of the Young Diet Members' Association to Promote Japan-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Exchanges, LDP leaders at the time wished to maintain the two parties' "ties for future generations" and worked hard to create the exchange program. All current pro-Taiwan senior LDP members, such as former PM Shinzo Abe, former Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa and Takeo TOKYO 00002376 002.2 OF 002 Hiranuma, served as LDP youth division directors. Those who served in this position subsequently became senior members of the Nikkakon. ¶6. (C) Another LDP group, the Young Diet Members' Association to Promote Japan-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Exchanges, is led by Councillor Nobuo Kishi, younger brother of former PM Shinzo Abe. It was established in April 2006 by younger LDP members, who had also been associated with the LDP's Youth Bureau. The group works closely with the LDP Youth Bureau in order to support Taiwan's active participation in the international community. ¶7. (C) The DPJ's Japan-Taiwan Friendship Parliamentary Council is led by Rep. Yoshito Sengoku and was established in April 2000. According to General Secretary Yukio Edano, the Council has about 70 members and its ideological base is in support of Taiwan's human rights and democracy. Sengoku, formerly a civil rights lawyer, has close personal ties with Democratic People's Party (DPP) leadership, and this group is closer to the DPP than the KMT. ¶8. (C) Another DPJ group, the Japan-Taiwan Security and Economic Study Group, was founded by 47 young DPJ members in May 2004 to "support Taiwan's full and long-term reintegration into the international community and to realize peace and security in East Asia through Japan-Taiwan parliamentary exchanges." The group is headed by former DPJ member Hirosato Nakasugawa. Well-known pro-Taiwan Diet member Akihisa Nagashima is the group's Secretary General. The group adopted five resolutions on November 24, 2004: 1) to respect and support Taiwan's popular will on Taiwan's Constitution and country name; 2) to support Taiwan's participation in the WHO; 3) to realize former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's visit to Japan; 4) to realize no-visa entry by Taiwanese tourists into Japan; and 5) to realize the change of notation of Taiwan nationals in Japan to "Taiwan." Differences, but Same Goal -------------- ¶9. (C) Ideological differences exist among the groups. Although Nikkakon Deputy Secretary General Oe insists that the Nikkakon is "neutral," the DPJ's Edano described the group as "classic anti-communist" and a "mixture of reactionary right-wingers and Taiwan patronage-driven members." He further criticized the Nikkakon for its tendency to "make empty promises," including regarding Japan's normalization of diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the conclusion of a security treaty and an the pursuit of a Free Trade Agreement and joint military exercises. Such an unrealistic approach, Edano told Embassy Tokyo, might be the reason behind the Nikkakon's gradual membership decline. ¶10. (C) Despite the groups' differences, all of our Diet interlocutors agreed that the parliamentary groups share the same goal of "supporting Taiwan" in the international community and have in the past taken steps to promote former President Lee Teng-hui's visit to Japan and Taiwan's application for WHO membership. ZUMWALT