DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 11/12/08

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 003138 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 11/12/08 INDEX: (1) Obama's America: Focus of attention on lineup of advisers for Obama on Asia policy (Mainichi) (2) Obama's America-Japan-U.S. relations (Part 2): Futenma a difficult assignment (Yomiuri) (3) Challenge facing US under Obama: Launching of new administration to provide good chance for North Korea to improve ties with U.S. (Yomiuri) (4) Japan-U.S. relations: Distrust casting shadow on alliance reaffirmation (Asahi) (5) TOP HEADLINES (6) EDITORIALS (7) Prime Minister's schedule, November 11 (Nikkei) ARTICLES: (1) Obama's America: Focus of attention on lineup of advisers for Obama on Asia policy MAINICHI (Page 6) (Full) November 12, 2008 Masaya Oikawa, Washington While U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is now preparing for the inauguration of his administration, the focus of attention is now on the roster of advisers for Obama on Asia policy. Obama's foreign policy advisers plan to exchange views on policy toward Asia with the delegates of relevant countries on the occasion of the forthcoming emergency summit of 20 countries and regions on the global financial crisis, which will start on Nov. 14 in Washington. Sights on policy toward China The emphasis of Obama's Asia policy is placed on China. Obama intends to build a strategic relationship with China based on the principle of "cooperation and competition." The dominant view in the group of foreign policy advisers to Obama is that China policy will become a major challenge for the Obama administration. In telephone talks on Nov. 6 with Prime Minister Taro Aso, Obama said that he would like to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance in order to push ahead with such global challenges as measures to prevent global warming. Obama stressed that there would be no change in the United States' position of giving priority to U.S.-Japan relations. However, there are differences in the positions of the current Republican government, which aims at expanding Japan's role, and of the incoming Democratic government, which is reluctant to expand Japan's military role. U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations senior staff member Frank Jannuzi said: "The United States should not force Japan to do what it does not want to." Concerned about the possibility of worsening Japan-China relations, TOKYO 00003138 002 OF 008 Obama has taken a stance of not hesitating to interfere in bilateral relations between Tokyo and Beijing. Attention being paid to whether Hill will be retained There are many China specialists in the group in charge of planning Asia policy for Obama. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Senior Adviser Derek Mitchell is considered to be slated for a key post in the Asia policy team. Mitchell served as senior director for Japanese affairs at the Department of Defense under the Clinton administration. He is also well versed in the issue of realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. The observation is growing that Jannuzi, who has close ties to Sen. Joe Biden; Peter Ogden, chief of staff at American Progress, which is a Democratic Party-affiliated think tank; and Stanley Foundation researcher Michael Schiffer will assume posts in the Obama administration. Having the experience of living in Japan, they have supported Obama. Attention is being paid to the course of action of Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. Some have contended that he might be retained in the new government. (2) Obama's America-Japan-U.S. relations (Part 2): Futenma a difficult assignment YOMIUIRI (Page 4) (Full) November 11, 2008 Obama and his administration can finish the assignment... Such an expectation is growing in Okinawa. It means the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, which is called the "assignment" among government officials in charge of policies toward the United States and which is to be carried out by 2014. The realignment of U.S. forces in Japan is linked to the transformation of U.S. forces around the world and will mitigate Okinawa's base-hosting burden through such steps as relocating Futenma airfield, which is contiguous to Ginowan City's residential areas, and relocating Okinawa-based U.S. Marines to Guam. However, Okinawa has raised an objection to the intergovernmental agreement reached between Japan and the United States on Futenma relocation. The task assigned to the government is therefore facing rough going. The United States will now have a Republican president for the first time in eight years since the Clinton administration, which decided to return Futenma airfield. "The Obama administration will accept Okinawa's standpoint," says a senior official of the Okinawa prefectural government. Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima is in high spirits, saying, "I will visit the United States before the new president is inaugurated, and I want to collect information there." When it comes to the issue of relocating Futenma airfield, however, factors from the perspective of military strategies in East Asia are greater than political factors. "There will be no difference between the Bush administration and the Obama administration," a senior official of the Foreign Ministry says. Futenma could be the first big issue for Japan to face with the Obama administration in the security area. The U.S. Department of Defense will submit its budget plan for TOKYO 00003138 003 OF 008 fiscal 2010 (from October 2009) to Congress in February next year. In its FY2010 budget plan, the Pentagon will earmark costs for strengthening the functions of bases in Guam to prepare for moving 8,000 troops from the U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam. However, Futenma relocation has been falling behind schedule. U.S. Congress budget authorities therefore raised a question about the feasibility of Futenma relocation, which is in a package with the Marines' Guam relocation. The Japanese and U.S. governments have agreed on a plan to relocate Futenma airfield to a coastal area of Camp Schwab in Nago City. Meanwhile, Okinawa Prefecture has been calling for the construction site of an alternative facility to be moved to an offshore area in order to ensure safety for local residents. Environment protectionists are also opposed to Futenma relocation to Nago. The government needs to finalize its Futenma relocation plan next spring at the latest, including where to lay down the newly planned airfield's runways. After that, the government will have to submit a report to Okinawa Prefecture in preparation for an environmental impact assessment. The alternative facility needs landfills in public waters. However, the governor may not permit such reclamation from the sea. This summer, the Pentagon asked the Defense Ministry to come up with an endorsement in written form to make sure Futenma relocation will be completed by 2014." The Defense Ministry answered that it would be possible to shorten the period of construction. On Nov. 5, however, U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) Commander Keating implied that the relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam would be in 2015 or later. "We've not received any explanation about such a change in the target year," Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura told the press yesterday. So saying, Kawamura was desperate to deny conjectures about a delay in the Marines' Guam relocation or an increase in Japan's burden sharing for it. In 1996, the then Hashimoto cabinet reached the accord on Futenma relocation. Futenma relocation, however, has been stagnated. This was primarily attributable to Japan's circumstances. In 1999, the government made a cabinet decision to relocate Futenma airfield to a sea-based site in waters off Nago City's Henoko district. That offshore relocation plan was changed to the current plan. In 2003, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld visited Okinawa to see Futenma airfield. He was then worried about a delay in the 1999 plan. The United States feared that the stagnation of Futenma relocation could compromise the Japan-U.S. alliance. In Japan, however, the successive prime ministers have been insensitive to that feeling in the U.S. government. In the Fukuda cabinet, two key government officials at the prime minister's office (Kantei),namely Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masahiro Futahashi, who topped all government bureaucrats, took the initiative to grapple with Futenma relocation. They proposed a minor change to move the relocation site to an offshore area about 50 meters from the coast. However, the U.S. military rejected the proposal, citing the Marine Corps' opposition. The Aso cabinet is now in office. Both Machimura and Futahashi have left the Kantei. "There's no ONE that takes the initiative," says a senior official of the Defense Ministry. The leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto),which TOKYO 00003138 004 OF 008 is aiming for a change of government in the next election for the House of Representatives, takes the position that the party will constantly verify Japan's fiscal spending of over 1 trillion yen in its burden sharing of costs for the U.S. military's realignment, including the Marines' Guam relocation. The DPJ has also advocated relocating U.S. military bases in Okinawa to overseas locations, and this alerts the United States. In such a political situation, a high-ranking official of the Japanese government recalls what a high-ranking official of the U.S. government said to him 10 years ago. That U.S. official said, "Do you think Futenma will move?" He added, "I think it's impossible." (3) Challenge facing US under Obama: Launching of new administration to provide good chance for North Korea to improve ties with U.S. YOMIURI (Page 7) (Full) November 11, 2008 Yoshiharu Asano, Seoul "We are ready to respond to whichever side is elected," North Korean Foreign Ministry's America chief Ri Gun confidently told reporters on Nov. 6 after meeting with U.S. officials in New York. North Korea continued to be subject to pressure from the Republican Bush administration over the past eight years, while being denounced as an "axis of evil" and the frontline base of oppression. The handover of power to the Democratic Party will provide the good opportunity that leader Kim Jong Il, whom the U.S. once dubbed as a tyrant, has long been waiting for. According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, when Choi Song (TN: phonetic),a member of the South Korean largest opposition Democratic Party, met senior North Korean government official while in Pyongyang in early November, all of them welcomed Obama's election in the U.S. presidential race. ONE said: "Obama is better than McCain," and another remarked: "I expect Obama's victory will work positively for the U.S. and North Korea to normalize their relations." North Korea is taking note of the pledge Obama made during the election campaign to meet leader Kim, with Choi saying: "They (North Korean officials) had high hopes on the inauguration of the Obama administration." During the Democratic Clinton administration (from 1993 through January 2001),the U.S. significantly pushed forward relations with North Korea upon overriding the first nuclear crisis that started in 1993 and ended in 1994. A plan on President Clinton's visit to North Korea was about to turn into reality in 2000 - the last days of the administration. Reminiscent of those days, North Korea is placing high hopes on the launch of a Democratic administration. The framework accord reached in 1994 between the U.S. and North Korea in 1994, which contributed to contain the first nuclear crisis, proposed providing the North with two light-water reactors in exchange for the freeze of its nuclear development program and establishing diplomatic offices in Washington and Pyongyang. But the U.S. has yet to implement these pledges since the Bush administration disclosed that North Korea had a secret program to enrich uranium for nuclear development. Given this, the goal of Pyongyang is to see these commitments TOKYO 00003138 005 OF 008 translated into action through negotiations with the Obama administration. Although the vision of a U.S.-North Korea summit has melted away under the Bush administration, since Obama is eager to meet the leader of North Korea, there is no need for the North to make an approach. If there is a matter of concern, it is only Kim's health condition. North Korea has already made arrangements to attain this goal. Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test in October 2006. As anticipated by the North, the U.S. administration, which was bogged down in the Iraq war, changed its confrontational stance into a policy of engagement. In a desperate effort to maintain the framework of the six-party talks, the Bush administration used even the valuable negotiating card of delisting that nation as a state sponsor of terrorism in response to an indication by the North to resume its Yongbyon nuclear facility. The focus of discussion in the six-party talks will surely shift to North Korea's complete denuclearization and the offer of light-water reactors in return for denuclearization. Paek Sung-chu, chief of the National Defense Policy Research Office in the Korean Institute for Defense Analyses, a policy research institute under the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, categorically said: "North Korea will not dismantle its nuclear program." But he indicated that U.S.-North Korea relations will steadily improve, saying: "The Obama administration is expected to set up a new forum for discussions between ranking U.S. and North Korean government officials, as a separate framework from the six-party talks." Some experts in South Korea predict that a Democratic administration may deal with such issues as human rights and nuclear proliferation more strictly than the Republican administration. But Obama has not referred to the need for "pressure" on North Korea yet, just mentioning the need for "dialogue." (4) Japan-U.S. relations: Distrust casting shadow on alliance reaffirmation ASAHI (Page 4) (Full) November 9, 2008 Yoichi Kato, Washington On Nov. 6, two days after his victory, President-elect Obama talked over the telephone with the leaders of nine countries in the world. Among them was Japan's Prime Minister Aso. In the two-year-long presidential race, Obama made almost no mention of Japan. For the time being, however, Japan seems to be acknowledged as an important ally and friend at the first diplomatic gateway before the inauguration of a new U.S. administration. The present relationship between Japan and the United States, however, is saddled with serious problems. Obama's administration will be inaugurated in January next year, and the two countries will make a fresh start. Meanwhile, people, both in Japan and in the United States, are voicing concerns about the present situation. The biggest problem is that Japan and the United States, failing to coordinate their policies and strategies, have a growing sense of distrust and dissatisfaction toward each other. TOKYO 00003138 006 OF 008 In October, the U.S. government delisted North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism without consulting well with Japan. This is a prime example. There is another example. The Maritime Self-Defense Force conducted a joint drill with Russia's naval forces that month. The U.S. Department of Defense, which was growing wary of Russia over Georgia, was opposed to such a joint exercise. Japan postponed the drill and carried it out later at a different place. U.S. government officials are dissatisfied with Japan, saying Japan has not fulfilled its diplomatic responsibility in backing up the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Japanese government has been unable to develop its policies because the Diet is divided with the ruling coalition holding a majority of the seats in its lower chamber and the opposition bench dominating its upper chamber. U.S. government officials are in a strong mood to forsake Japan as a narrow-minded country rather than show understanding for such circumstances. There is deep-seated dissatisfaction within the Democratic Party, which will shore up Obama's administration. ONE of its officials said Japanese government officials and Diet people have ignored the Democratic Party, only meeting people in the Republican Party. Japanese government officials may say it cannot be helped because the Republican Party has been in office over the past eight years. However, Japan counted totally on former Deputy Secretary of State Armitage and former Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) Michael Green. For this reason, it is also true that no ONE in the Democratic Party is unable to take their place at once. Obama and his administration, as well as the Bush administration, will attach importance to Japan-U.S. relations. This was already revealed by former Ambassador to Japan Mondale, honorary chair of a group that advises Obama on Japan. However, Obama's administration would inevitably reevaluate or relativize relations with Japan. In other words, the Japan-U.S. alliance will be called into question over whether it is substantive enough. Japan will tackle immediate challenges, such as assisting with Afghanistan and realigning U.S. forces in Japan. In the meantime, Japan would also like to beef up its alliance with the United States. The year 2010 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. Moreover, Japan will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum that year, and Obama is expected to visit Japan. Japanese government officials are considering a plan to release a strategic document on that occasion to reaffirm the bilateral alliance. If Japan keeps making preparations for that, the alliance would be all right... It appears that there is also such a calculation among Japanese government officials. Basically, the United States is ready to respond. In the United States, however, there are also arguments calling for visible results rather than to forge an idealistic agreement. "We're not very interested," a Japan hand on the Obama camp said. Even so, Japan cannot expect to see progress on political issues. With such a dilemma deepening on ONE hand, there are also arguments calling for Japan passing on the other hand. (5) TOP HEADLINES Asahi: TOKYO 00003138 007 OF 008 Government not to set income cap for cash benefit plan; Coordination underway to urge people with income of 18 million yen or more to decline cash benefits Mainichi: Appeals court should respect lay judge decisions Yomiuri: Police to question broker of organs for transplant to Japanese in China Nikkei: Government to urge electric power firms to disclose alternative energy costs Sankei: Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian held on suspicion of illicit enrichment Tokyo Shimbun: Stock plunge halts operation of Hartford Akahata: JCP unveils emergency economic stimulus package to defend people's livelihoods (6) EDITORIALS Asahi: (1) Tamogami testimony: Point of freedom of speech missed (2) Governors' objections to Yodogawa dam project must be taken seriously Mainichi: (1) Government's handout plan incoherent and unnecessary (2) Tamogami testimony: Cadet education system must be revealed Yomiuri: (1) LDP tax panel: Both tax cuts and hikes are important (2) Tamogami misses point on freedom of speech Nikkei: (1) Steel industry needs to earnestly reflect on its cartel practice (2) Tamogami essay may not be isolated case Sankei: (1) Tamogami summoned: In-depth discussion hoped for (2) Objections to Daido dam project should help promote decentralization Tokyo Shimbun: (1) Testimony by ex-ASDF chief: Civilian control should be ensured (2) MLIT should lend ear to opposition to Yodogawa dam project Akahata: (1) New drive necessary to eliminate nuclear weapons from world (7) Prime Minister's schedule, November 11 NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) November 12, 2008 TOKYO 00003138 008 OF 008 09:00 Attended cabinet meeting in Diet building. Education Minister Shionoya remained. 09:40 Met at Kantei with astronaut Naoko Yamazaki and JAXA President Tachikawa. Met afterwards with Lower House member Taro Nakayama, chair of the Japanese side of Japan-Arab Forum. 10:37 Met with Administrative Vide Foreign Minister Yabunaka, Deputy Foreign Minister Sasae, followed by Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Yosano. 12:39 Hosted luncheon party for Spanish King Carlos and Queen Sofia. 15:10 Taping at LDP headquarters for public relations. Met with Public Relations Chairman Furuya. 16:05 Met with LDP Secretary General Hosoda and Treasury Bureau Director General Miyaji. 16:20 Met at Kantei with Fukuda and Hayashi, assistant deputy chief cabinet secretaries. Met later with Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura, followed by Environment Minister Saito and Deputy Vice Minister Minamikawa. 17:16 Met with Seiichiro Okuhara, vice president of Hiroshima Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Met later with Mayor of Niimi City Ishigaki, joined by Lower House member Yoshitaka Murata. 18:40 Held informal meeting with cabinet press club cap at Chinese restaurant in Kudankita. 20:25 Met with Mayor of Numazu City Kurihara, Defense Minister Hamada, Consumer Affairs Minister Noda, former Consumer Affairs Minister Kishida and LDP Senior Deputy Secretary General Hayashi at Japanese restaurant in Hotel New Otani. 21:05 Met with former U.S. Vice President Quayle and Education Minister Shionoya at Bar Capri in Hotel New Otani. 21:31 Met with secretary at Kato's Dining & Bar in Hotel New Otani. 23:11 Returned to his private residence in Kamiyama-cho. SCHIEFFER