DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 09/04/08

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 09 TOKYO 002428 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 09/04/08 INDEX: (1) Poll on Fukuda's resignation, political parties, post-Fukuda premiership (Asahi) (2) Reinvestigation into abduction cases in limbo due to prime minister's resignation announcement (Mainichi) (3) Continuation of refueling mission requires convincing explanation (Yomiuri) (4) Ozawa to map out policy platform: Decentralization reform to include total scrapping of tied subsidies (Mainichi) (5) Editorial: U.S. House Speaker's visit to Hiroshima atomic bomb memorial a significant step (Asahi) (6) Kazamidori (Weathervane) column: "Koizumi disarmament" irritates U.S. (Nikkei) ARTICLES: (1) Poll on Fukuda's resignation, political parties, post-Fukuda premiership ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) September 4, 2008 Questions & Answers (Figures shown in percentage, rounded off. Figures in parentheses denote the results of the last survey conducted Aug. 30-31.) Q: Prime Minister Fukuda has now announced his resignation. Do you think it's good that Mr. Fukuda will resign? Yes 46 No 34 Q: Do you think it's irresponsible of Prime Minister Fukuda to have announced his resignation at this point? Yes 66 No 25 Q: Mr. Fukuda's predecessor, Mr. Abe, resigned suddenly within one year after becoming prime minister. This time, Mr. Fukuda will also step down suddenly within one year after becoming prime minister. What's your impression of the Liberal Democratic Party now? Worsened 51 Unchanged 44 Q: What's your overall rating for Prime Minister Fukuda's performance over the past year? (One choice only) Appreciate very much 1 Appreciate somewhat 29 Don't appreciate very much 47 Don't appreciate at all 21 Q: Who would you like to see become the next prime minister. Pick only one from among Diet members. (Free choice) TOKYO 00002428 002 OF 009 Taro Aso 30 Ichiro Ozawa 8 �0A;Junichiro Koizumi 4 Yuriko Koike 3 Yoichi Masuzoe 1 Nobuteru Ishihara 1 Katsuya Okada 1 Seiko Noda 1 Other politicians 4 No answer (N/A) + don't know (D/K) 47 Q: Which political party do you support now? Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) 29 (26) Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) 21 (20) New Komeito (NK) 3 (3) Japanese Communist Party (JCP) 1 (3) Social Democratic Party (SDP or Shaminto) 2 (1) People's New Party (PNP or Kokumin Shinto) 0 (0) New Party Nippon (NPN or Shinto Nippon) 0 (0) Other political parties 0 (0) None 37 (40) N/A+D/K 7 (7) Q: Do you think the House of Representatives should be dissolved as early as possible for a general election? Yes 56 (43) No 33 (45) Q: If you were to vote now in a general election for the House of Representatives, which political party would you like to vote for in your proportional representation bloc? LDP 28 (27) DPJ 32 (31) NK 4 (3) JCP 3 (4) SDP 2 (2) PNP 1 (0) NPN 0 (0) Other political parties 0 (1) N/A+D/K 30 (32) Q: Would you like the current LDP-led coalition government to continue, or would you otherwise like it to be replaced with a DPJ-led coalition government? LDP-led coalition 32 DPJ-led coalition 41 Polling methodology: The survey was conducted from the evening of Sept. 2 through the evening of Sept. 3 over the telephone on a computer-aided random digit dialing (RDD) basis. Respondents were chosen from among the nation's voting population on a three-stage random-sampling basis. Valid answers were obtained from 1,069 persons (58 PERCENT ). (2) Reinvestigation into abduction cases in limbo due to prime minister's resignation announcement TOKYO 00002428 003 OF 009 MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full) September 4, 2008 North Korea (DPRK) agreed to conduct a reinvestigation into abduction cases involving Japanese nationals at bilateral working-level talks in August. The outlook now is that it would be impossible for the nation to end the investigation by the fall at the earliest, because a significant delay in the launching of the investigation is expected. This was revealed by a senior Foreign Ministry official. The main cause of the delay is Prime Minister Fukuda's announcement of his decision to step down. However, it is unknown whether the DPRK will actually start an investigation, given the increasingly likely prospect that the Lower House will be dissolved for a snap election soon after the new prime minister takes office. There is a growing possibility of the agreement reached during the Fukuda administration being annulled. The agreement reached in August noted that the reinvestigation should be conducted immediately and ended by the fall at the earliest. The two countries agreed that Japan would ease some sanctions as soon as the DPRK launched its investigation. However, it is impossible for Japan to make a political judgment regarding the removal of sanctions before a new prime minister is elected. The view gaining ground is that the North is not likely to start an investigation, when there is the possibility of Japan not lifting sanctions. The same senior Foreign Ministry official revealed that Japan has no intention of urging North Korea to start a reinvestigation for the time being, noting that it is not a matter on which a working-level official can make a decision. North Korea might have already communicated something to the Japanese side, although the official would not admit such, simply noting, "We have had no communication from North Korea." Because of the outlook for dissolution of the Lower House and a snap election soon after the election of a new prime minister, Pyongyang will most likely first try to determine the stance of the new administration. There is a possibility of the August agreement effectively becoming a dead letter, and the new administration being pressed to start all over again. (3) Continuation of refueling mission requires convincing explanation YOMIURI (Page 13) (Abridged slightly) September 4, 2008 By Akihiko Tanaka, professor, University of Tokyo Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda abruptly announced his resignation, irresponsibly walking off the job. He also suddenly resigned as chief cabinet secretary (on May 7, 2004). He probably could not allow himself to change his style just to cling to power. Support ratings were sluggish, and the New Komeito and the Democratic Party of Japan seemed to care less about the country's responsibility to the rest of the world. Fukuda might have concluded that continuing to serve as prime minister under such circumstances would not be good for Japan. TOKYO 00002428 004 OF 009 I believe Prime Minister Fukuda was fixated on the maintenance of Japan's international role. There are no prospects for the enactment of a bill amending the New Antiterrorism Special Measures Law in the next extraordinary Diet session. The suspension of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission is a serious matter for the international community. There was strong opposition in the ruling coalition to using a two-thirds overriding vote in the House of Representatives to enact the legislation. There was a possibility of the legislation being used politically and damaging Japan-U.S. relations as a result. Tokyo's decision to drop out of international support for Afghanistan when the country is in a serious situation would make Japan of less significance to the United States. Japan would disappear from the sight of the next U.S. administration. Japan's diplomacy would then be thrown into turmoil. Prime Minister Fukuda failed to explain such points thoroughly. In a democracy, nothing happens unless the media and the public are involved. At the same time, the prime minister's achievements on the diplomatic front merit high praise. In particular, Japan-China relations have significantly improved. During his visit to Japan in May, Chinese President Hu Jintao praised the path Japan has taken since the end of WWII -- something that had not been done by his predecessors. Under the Fukuda administration, there were clear changes to relations between the two countries, as seen in the facts that they reached a basic agreement on the joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea and that China has conducted a thorough investigation into poisoning cases triggered by Chinese-made frozen dumplings. The Lake Toya summit in July accomplished substantial results as well. As part of an effort to establish a framework for combating global warming, the prime minister played a central role in efforts to include newly emerging countries like China and India in the fight to curb greenhouse gas emissions. These diplomatic achievements were not fully appreciated by the people and did not help boost the cabinet's support ratings. Amid the volatile international situation, exemplified by the Russia-Georgia conflict, the people and politicians remain inward-looking and do not understand the importance of diplomacy. That might be the reason why the prime minister decided to call it quits. The focus has already shifted to who will replace Fukuda. Moves are likely to intensify with an eye on the next Lower House election. The prime minister's post should be filled by a person who can explain in simple language to the people what Japan has to do in the international community. Above all, a vacuum must not be created in the refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. In order for Japan to fulfill its international responsibilities, the matter must be discussed in the next extraordinary Diet session, and the continuation of the refueling mission must be set via an overriding vote in the Lower House, as necessary, and that decision must be taken to the people. (4) Ozawa to map out policy platform: Decentralization reform to include total scrapping of tied subsidies TOKYO 00002428 005 OF 009 MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) September 4, 2008 Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or Minshuto) President Ichiro Ozawa on September 3 decided to map out a policy platform based on the premise that he would become the next prime minister if a change in government occurs, following the next Lower House election. His policy platform will center on the reform of the decentralization of power featuring the scrapping of tied subsidies. He plans to release it on the 21st, when he is expected to be elected as president for a third term. The DPJ views that there could be dissolution of the Lower House before the end of September. It intends to hastily map out a manifesto for the next Lower House election, based on Ozawa's policy platform. Outline to be released on the 21st Fukuoka Prefecture Governor Wataru Aso, chairman of the Association of Prefectural Governors (APG),on the afternoon of the 3rd visited the DPJ headquarters with a statement requesting the party to place the reform of the decentralization of government administration as one of the party's top priorities. Ozawa responded, "Our plan is far more advanced than your request." In response to a request by the APG, which it made with the possible launching of a DPJ administration in mind, Ozawa reiterated his desire to implement reform, saying, "I would transfer all authorities to local governments except for authority over the functions of the state." Concerning the reform of the decentralization of power, Ozawa has previously stressed that the first thing he wanted to do once he takes over the reins of government is to implement the reform of decentralization. The party's Decentralization Committee, chaired by Koichiro Genba, is now pursuing discussions on the issue. The panel is mapping out a set of proposals, including: (1) 20 trillion yen in individual subsidies provided by each government agency to local governments should be turned into grants over three to five years starting in the fiscal 2009; and (2) reorganizing present municipalities into 700 to 800 wide-spread local governments and basic local governments over five to ten years and eventually integrating them into 300 basic local governments. It has been pointed out that tied subsidies are one cause of unabated wasteful projects, because they can only be used for areas designated by sponsor-government agencies. Ozawa aims at boosting fiscal resources, which local government can spend at their own discretion, by turning tied subsidies into grants. Regarding the idea of establishing local governments, Ozawa has proposed a two-tier structure consisting of the state and 300 basic local governments. However, some party members are opposing Ozawa's plan with one mid-ranking member rebutting, "The authority of the central government would become even stronger under such a structure." For this reason, Ozawa will likely set a mid-term goal of creating a three-tier structure, by reorganizing municipalities into 700 to 800 basic local governments, while keeping wide-area local governments, which are equivalent to the present prefectures, intact. Deputy President Naoto Kan, Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama and several others on the 3rd met at the party headquarters and confirmed their stance of accelerating the process of mapping out a manifesto for the next Lower House election to be formally adopted in early October. TOKYO 00002428 006 OF 009 (5) Editorial: U.S. House Speaker's visit to Hiroshima atomic bomb memorial a significant step ASAHI (Page 3) (Full) September 4, 2008 When the lower house speakers of the Group of Eight (G-8) major countries were about to leave the monument at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park where they had just laid down wreathes of flowers, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a small sign of the cross. Pelosi is the highest-ranking U.S. political figure to visit Hiroshima, which suffered from an atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. during World War II. What went through her mind at that time? Did she pay tribute to the 140,000 people who had lost their lives in a flash? What thought did she have about her own country that had bombed the city? There is a wide difference between Japan and the U.S. in the way the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are evaluated. The two countries have concluded a security treaty and praise each other as allies sharing common values. But when it comes to issues related to war and history, there still exists an unhealed wound. The U.S. government's view is that the bombings hastened Japan's surrender and resulted in saving many lives. But the Japanese people's feeling is that surrender was only a matter of time even without the bombings and that the use of the weapons that indiscriminately killed civilians and seriously exposed many people to radiation was unforgivable from a humanitarian point of view. The Japanese government, however, has taken an ambiguous attitude, out of consideration to the U.S., saying that it is impossible to even say that the use of nuclear weapons violated international law. Last summer, then Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said: "The dropping of atomic bombs on Japan could not be helped." This remark halfway represented the view of the U.S. since it ignored the pain of the atomic bomb victims. One year after Kyuma made the remark, Japan hosted the seventh annual conference of lower house speakers from the G-8 major countries in Hiroshima. House Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono was the one who had recommended Hiroshima as the site for the conference. He was motivated by a desire to discuss nuclear disarmament, while looking squarely at the evidence that human beings used inhumane weapons against other human beings. After the G-8 conference, Pelosi issued a short statement noting: "I recalled anew through this tour of Hiroshima that war is hugely destructive. I came to think that it is an imminent task for all countries to promote peace and build a better world." She supposedly tried to respond in her own way to Kono's motive to hold the meeting in Hiroshima. There is also dissatisfaction among atomic-bomb suffers, because there has never been an apology from the United States for the atomic bombings. The U.S. has never changed its nuclear policy to move toward abolition of all nuclear weapons. But at t a time when many Americans seek to justify the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Pelosi's visit to Hiroshima is significant. TOKYO 00002428 007 OF 009 Taking a liberal stand, Pelosi is eager for nuclear disarmament, but she visited Hiroshima as the House of Representatives speaker, even though she might be publicly criticized for doing so. We would like to express our respect to her for her courage and discernment. When we evaluate a historical event, useless disputes tend to emerge, involving nationalism. It is necessary for both sides to understand the other side's pain even slightly, without discussing whether the event was right or wrong. We would like to bear in mind the sign of the cross made by Pelosi. (6) Kazamidori (Weathervane) column: "Koizumi disarmament" irritates U.S. NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) August 31, 2008 By Hisayoshi Ina, editorial writer I have my doubts about two common beliefs regarding Japan-U.S. relations. The accepted notions in question are: 1) Japan is more dissatisfied with the present state of the bilateral alliance than the United States due to its distrust of U.S. policy toward North Korea; and 2) the Koizumi administration pleased the United States by sending the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) overseas, while enraging China with the Yasukuni Shrine issue. Turning the argument around, if one assumes that the United States is more displeased than Japan over the present state of the alliance, it would mean that the Koizumi administration angered Washington when it made China happy. The Koizumi administration that stayed in office for five years from 2001 received a certain level of international appreciation for dispatching the SDF to the Indian Ocean. That may have been the impression, but the opposite may just be true. In point of fact, the national defense budgets of major countries, other than Japan, have increased their national defense budgets in the seven years since 2001. Looking at the defense budgets of major countries for 1997 and those for 2007 based on military balance figures and the Budget Message of the President, China boosted its spending 4.8 times over the last decade; the United States, 2.1 times; Britain, 1.7 times; Germany, 1.6 times; and France, 1.3 times. Japan, on the other hand, only increased defense spending by 1.9 PERCENT . Only Japan's budget did not double, but went up by only a fraction. In 2001, terrorists attacked the United States, and the period between 2001 and 2007 was one in which major countries rushed to build up their armaments. Arms growth rates in European countries stayed relatively low probably because of strong euro. However, compared to China, Japan seems to have been engaged in arms reduction. I call this the "Koizumi disarmament" Such a trend may have made China happy. Assuming that it was difficult for Japan to correct its trajectory due to its economic downturn, it should have cast a pall on relations with the United States. The U.S. government has already expressed its displeasure about it. This can be seen in the annual report on China's military TOKYO 00002428 008 OF 009 power that the U.S. Department of Defense released on March 3, ¶2008. According to a responsible Pentagon official, the most important point in the annual report is a column chart found on page 33. The column indicates the national defense budgets of such countries as China, Russia and Japan. It also shows that the figure that China disclosed topped Japan's defense spending. The Defense Department estimates that China's real defense budget is about twice or three times the figure that the government releases. Even the official figure China revealed was larger than Japan's defense budget. Under normal circumstances, Japan should have increased its level of its dependence on the alliance with the U.S. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer, referring to this point in a speech delivered on May 20 at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, called on Japan to increase its defense budget. Schieffer said that Japan's defense outlays accounted for 0.89 PERCENT of its gross domestic product (GDP),and that the figure was the lowest among advanced industrialized countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Ambassador Schieffer criticized Japan for taking a "free ride," by relying on the U.S.' defense capability. However, it is difficult now for Japan to increase its defense budget due to the money scandal involving former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya, among other reasons. The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) headed by Ichiro Ozawa, however, has called for a cut in Japan's host nation support that covers the expenses of U.S. bases in Japan. Such would make the U.S. side angry. No matter what happens in the world, whether it is the Fukuda administration or the Ozawa administration, Japan will probably continue its own "disarmament" policy. If the U.S. assertion is taken into account, it is absolutely necessary for Japan to continue the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling operation in the Indian Ocean in order to reduce friction between Tokyo and Washington. Under the present political situation, though, it appears difficult for Japan to continue that mission. Japanese conservatives erupted angrily when the U.S. government decided to delist North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, even saying, "The U.S. betrayed Japan." If Japan ceases its refueling mission, the U.S. will react similarly. There is naturally an argument that Japan should defend itself by nonmilitary means and contribute to world peace. In the process of implementing the structural reforms, the Koizumi administration even cut the budget for official development assistance (ODA) was reduced. Japan has dropped to the level of being the number two aid donor, overtaken by the United States in 2001, the year the Koizumi administration was inaugurated. As a result of ODA cuts by the Koizumi government, Japan dropped to fifth place in 2007. It will soon sink more to become the sixth-largest aid donor. Japan is on a downward slippery slope. I am convinced of it. Even the Fukuda administration's slogan of realizing peace of mind, reflected an inward-looking, shrinking orientation, that sought a minimum level of peace of mind. An international environment that TOKYO 00002428 009 OF 009 can provide peace of mind is premised on everything being secure. ZUMWALT