JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 12/08/08

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E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 12/08/08 Index: Aso in deep trouble: 1) Asahi poll: Aso Cabinet support rate plummets to 22 PERCENT in only two months since inauguration; Public now DPJ's Ozawa over Aso for prime minister (Asahi) 2) Mainichi poll: Huge drop in cabinet support rate to 21 PERCENT as public rejects Prime Minister Aso for policy confusion, constant gaffes (Mainichi) 3) Kyodo poll gives Aso Cabinet at 25.5 PERCENT support rate (Tokyo Shimbun) 4) LDP Deputy Secretary General Ishihara says that party is at the brink of disaster (Mainichi) 5) LDP General Council Chairman Sasagawa says State Minister for Declining Birthrate Policy Obuchi picked because she had given birth to a baby (Tokyo Shimbun) Obama fever: 6) Democratic Party of Japan, seized with President-elect Obama's slogan of "change," is studying his election campaign in order to apply same tactics (Yomiuri) 7) Former Deputy Secretary of State Armitage, attending Tokyo symposium, says that Obama as president will be more multilateral than Bush (Yomiuri) 8) Government poll shows 71 PERCENT do not feel relations with China in good shape (Asahi) North Korea problem: 9) Family of missing Japanese suspected of having been kidnapped by North Korean agents writes letter to President-elect Obama on the abduction issue (Sankei) 10) U.S., Japan, South Korea delegates to Six-Party Talks agree to press North Korea for nuclear samplings (Yomiuri) 11) Japan seeking new route to Pyongyang, possibly through European cooperation, in order to find breakthrough on abduction issue (Nikkei) Defense and security affairs: 12) DPJ head Ozawa says Okinawa does not need so much military power stationed there (Mainichi) 13) SDF sends support group to Iraq to help ASDF withdrawal (Tokyo Shimbun) 14) ASDF provided airlifts in Iraq to over 30,000 multinational personnel, including U.S. troops (Tokyo Shimbun) 15) Japan unable to meet new WTO target for tariff reductions on key items like agricultural products (Yomiuri) Articles: 1) Asahi poll: Aso Cabinet support rate dives to 22 PERCENT in two months; Ozawa seen more fit for prime minister ASAHI (Top play) (Excerpts) December 8, 2008 In a telephone-based opinion survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun on Dec. 6-7, the rate of support for the cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso was 22 PERCENT , taking a nosedive from the 37 PERCENT marked in the previous poll conducted on Nov. 8-9. Responding to a question asking who is more appropriate, Prime Minister Aso or TOKYO 00003327 002 OF 009 Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa, to be prime minister, only 30 PERCENT of people picked Aso, a huge drop from last survey's 49 PERCENT . Ozawa outscored Aso for the first time at 35 PERCENT , jumping up from 23 PERCENT . With the prime minister's advantage as the leading figure for the next election completely evaporated, the Aso administration, only two months after its establishment, appears to have reached a terminal stage. The support rate for the Aso cabinet has now plummeted to the about same level as the closing days of the cabinet of Aso's predecessor, Yasuo Fukuda. The disapproval rating soared to 64 PERCENT from the previous survey's 41 PERCENT . As the main reason, 63 PERCENT of people cited the cabinet's policies. The rate of support among LDP supporters was 54 PERCENT (72 PERCENT in the previous survey), indicating that core supporters, too, are drifting away from Aso. The rate of support among unaffiliated voters also dropped to 11 PERCENT from 26 PERCENT . Some 21 PERCENT of people said that Aso had the capability to implement policies, whereas an overwhelming majority -- 68 PERCENT -- answered that they did not think so. Shortly after the Aso cabinet was launched, positive answers accounted for 54 PERCENT and negative ones 28 PERCENT . 2) Mainichi poll: Aso cabinet support rate drops to 21 PERCENT due to gaffes and policy flip-flops; Ozawa outperforms Aso in party head ability MAINICHI (Top play) (Excerpts) December 8, 2008 Mainichi Shimbun conducted a nationwide telephone opinion survey on Dec. 6-7. The results showed that the rate of support for Prime Minister Taro Aso's cabinet was 21 PERCENT , a decline of 15 percentage points, and the disapproval rate was 58 PERCENT , up 17 percentage points from the pervious poll conducted in October. To a question asking who -- Prime Minister Aso or Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa -- is more fit to be prime minister, the two traded places for the first time, with Aso marking 19 PERCENT , down 21 percentage points, and Ozawa recording 21 PERCENT , up 3 percentage points. PM Aso, who assumed office as party's standard bearer for the next election and as a capable party head, is certain to find it even more difficult to steer his administration. The support rate of 21 PERCENT is even lower than the former Abe cabinet's lowest rating of 22 PERCENT , marked in a survey conducted in August 2007 shortly after the LDP suffered a crushing setback in the House of Councillors election. Abe announced his resignation a little over one month later. The rate was similarly low at 18 PERCENT , recorded in May 2008, and at 21 PERCENT and 22 PERCENT in June and July, respectively, under the former Fukuda administration. As the reason for supporting the cabinet, 19 PERCENT of people, down 14 percentage points from the previous survey, said they pinned hopes on the prime minister's leadership. As the reason for not supporting the cabinet, 27 PERCENT of people, up 14 percentage points, said they could not pin hopes on the prime minister's leadership. The administration that has followed a wild path in determining policies and the prime minister's gaffes seem to have taken a toll on the support rating. TOKYO 00003327 003 OF 009 In response to a question about the prime minister's inadvertent comments and his blunders in reading kanji, 48 PERCENT of people said they doubted Aso's qualification to be prime minister, while 42 PERCENT said such things were minor. To the question asking who is more suitable for the top job, the answer "neither is suitable" increased 14 percentage points to 54 PERCENT . Those who used to pick Aso seemed to have joined this group. 3) Cabinet support rate plummets to 25.5 PERCENT in national telephone-based poll TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Excerpt) December 8, 2008 Kyodo Wire Service carried out a nationwide telephone-based opinion survey on Dec. 6-7 and found that the support rate for the cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso has unusually plummeted 15.4 points from the last poll to 25.5 PERCENT . The non-support rate soared 19.1 points from last time to 61.3 PERCENT . In response to the question about who is more appropriate to be prime minister, Prime Minister Taro Aso or Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa, 34.5 PERCENT picked Ozawa (10.1 PERCENT higher than last time),while 33.5 PERCENT chose Aso (a drop of 17.5 points). For the first time, the two have traded places in that category. 4) LDP's Ishihara feels crisis coming on: LDP, Aso administration on brink of disaster MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) December 6, 2008 At a fund-raising party yesterday in a Tokyo hotel, Nobuteru Ishihara, senior deputy secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),expressed a strong sense of crisis about holding the next Lower House election under Prime Minister Taro Aso. He said: "As many as 70 PERCENT to 80 PERCENT of LDP lawmakers are wary of whether the party can remain in the ruling camp if the election is held under the Aso administration. Both the LDP and the Aso administration may be on the brink of disaster." Ishihara ran against Aso in last September's LDP presidential election. He is now in charge of the urban electoral districts for the next Lower House election. He said: "I assume that 60 PERCENT to 70 PERCENT of the population probably are willing to let the DPJ hold the reins of government at least once." Meanwhile, former Administrative Reform Minister Yoshimi Watanabe of the LDP, pointed out on a radio program on Dec. 5: "No matter which party, the LDP or DPJ, wins, political realignment is unavoidable." He then added: "(For economic recovery) a crisis management cabinet should be formed." 5) Sasagawa: "Obuchi chosen as minister for declining birthrate only because she has a child" TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) December 7, 2008 Takashi Sasagawa, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's General TOKYO 00003327 004 OF 009 Council, said yesterday that LDP Lower House member Yuko Obuchi was chosen as state minister in charge of the declining birthrate because she gave birth to a boy. He said in a speech at a party in Matsue City: "Why was she chosen as the minister? That is because she had a baby. If an unmarried woman with no child assumed the post, people would question how she could really understand how to tackle the declining birthrate." The controversial remark could be taken as meaning that whether or not a person has a child can be used as a criterion for appointment to an official post, so Sasagawa might come under fire. Sasagawa also said: "I could have assumed the post, as I have 14 grandchildren." Keeping the declining population of Shimane Prefecture in mind, he added: "The population will not increase without effort. Recent young people have not made enough effort." Later, he said in an interview with Kyodo News: "I did not mean that a person without children cannot assume the ministerial post. I just mean it would be more persuasive if a person who has a child, like Ms. Obuchi, assumes the post." 6) DPJ holds Obama-style study sessions in order for party to "change," too YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) December 7, 2008 The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),the largest opposition party, is now trying to introduce election methods and policy measures that are similar to those used by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama too during his election campaign. Following the example of Obama, who won a landslide victory in the presidential race with "change" as the slogan, the DPJ appears to be aiming at similarly taking the reins of government. Obama reportedly succeeded in expanding grassroots' networks, as well as collecting funds by taking advantage of cell phones and other methods. He has a reputation for his oratory skills. In order to learn such points, the DPJ has held so far two study sessions, mainly by the national movement panel (headed by Sakihito Ozawa). The panel invited the party's Upper House member Kuniko Tanioka, whose secretary worked as a volunteer for Obama during the campaign and who also studied Obama's election campaign, and Kazuhide Nishikawa, a part-time lecturer and the author of the book titled Obama's Narrative Technique and Maneuvering to Win, as speakers. In the study sessions, one speaker reportedly said: "It is believed that pointing one's finger toward another person is a bad behavior, but Mr. Obama does it often. That behavior has an effect to impress the other side." One participant said: "I want to learn quickly Mr. Obama's verbal skills that accentuate his differences with rivals. I also want to carry out campaigning without depending on the party, such as by using more volunteers." In the wake of Obama's "green new deal" concept of creating jobs by using natural energy sources, the DPJ intends to come up a Japanese version of a "green new deal" notion to create new jobs for 2.5 million people. The party is now looking into coming up with a plan before the next Lower House election and submitting a bill to the Diet after the election. TOKYO 00003327 005 OF 009 7) Armitage: President-elect Obama's administration to stress multilateralism in diplomacy YOMIURI (Page 9) (Excerpts) December 6, 2008 A symposium to discuss the direction of the U.S. administration expected under President-elect Obama titled, "Continuity and Change in America, (sponsored by the America Studies Program at Keio University and supported by the Yomiuri Shimbun) was held in at Keio University in Tokyo's Minato Ward on December 5. Japan expert Richard Armitage, a former deputy secretary at the U.S. State Department, gave the keynote speech. In it, he pointed out that the foreign policy of the administration of President-elect Obama "will place emphasis on multilateralism and use of the United Nations." Armitage, commenting on equipping East Europe with missile defense (MD),which the Bush administration has promoted, predicted, "Mr. Obama will slow the process down a bit." On Russia, with which relations have worsened over the Georgian dispute, he stated: "He will respect is as a major power and likely listen to its views." He also stressed that "there is no more important place right now in the world than Pakistan." In addition, he said, "There is fear that the people there might become immediately radicalized," since the government there is not giving consideration to the nation's livelihood. He expressed concern that there could be an impact on the war on terror in Afghanistan. 8) Government poll: 71 PERCENT of Japanese do not feel that relations with China are good, possibly reflecting food poisoning cases ASAHI (Page 1) (Abridged slightly December 7, 2008 Over 70 PERCENT of the Japanese people believe that relations with China are not good, the highest figure ever in a government poll on diplomacy released on Dec. 6. The answer, "I do not feel friendly toward China," also was a record high in the poll. The Foreign Ministry believes the figures resulted mainly from the recent food-poisoning cases involving China, including pesticide-tainted imported frozen dumplings. The survey has been conducted annually since 1975. This year, the poll was conducted in October on 3,000 people across Japan, with 1,826 people responding with valid answers. Asked about Japan's relations with China, 71.9 PERCENT of Japanese answered that they did not feel they were good. This is up from last year's 68.0 PERCENT . The answer had hovered around 50 PERCENT up until 2003, and surpassed 60 PERCENT in 2004. Over the last three years, the rate has run around 70 PERCENT . Only 23.7 PERCENT said bilateral relations were good, down from last year's 26.4 PERCENT . People who feel no affinity toward China also increased to 66.6 PERCENT from last year's 63.5 PERCENT . The rate of those feeling friendship toward China was the lowest ever at 31.8 PERCENT , down from 34.0 PERCENT . Asked about Japan-U.S. relations, 28.1 PERCENT of Japanese, the highest rate since 1998, said they did not feel they were good, up from last year's 20.4 PERCENT . Meanwhile, 68.9 PERCENT , the lowest TOKYO 00003327 006 OF 009 rate since 1998, felt they were in good shape. But last year's rate was higher: 76.3 PERCENT . Asked about relations with South Korea, 49.5 PERCENT considered them were good (49.9 PERCENT last year),and a record 57.1 PERCENT (54.8 PERCENT last year) said they felt friendly toward that country. A Foreign Ministry source said: "We think the trend is ascribable to improved bilateral relations since the inauguration of President Lee Myung Bak and expanded exchanges on the private level." Asked about economic cooperation toward developing countries, 30.4 PERCENT of people said it should be promoted actively, up nearly 6 percentage points from last year. 9) Family member of missing person suspected of having been abducted to North Korea to write letter to President-elect Obama SANKEI (Page 3) (Full) December 7, 2008 A family member of Takako Ikushima in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo (31 years old at the time),a missing person suspected of having been abducted by North Korea, will send a letter to U.S. President-elect Obama, seeking cooperation for and understanding of the abduction issue and hoping for help to reach a settlement. Amid concern that the new U.S. administration will be inclined toward a dialogue policy toward that nation, with Japan-North Korea talks at an impasse, the victim's elder sister Keiko (68) will write a letter to the president-elect to argue for help to rescue the abduction victims. Takako, who disappeared from her home in November 1974, is one of the persons whom the Specified Missing Persons Issue Research Group, chaired by Kazuhiro Araki, believes was abducted. One North Korean defector in the summer of 2004 provided a reported of sightings of Takako. However, there is growing concern that since she has not been officially recognized by the Japanese government as an abductee, the governments of Japan and the U.S. might not address her case once the U.S. Democratic Party takes power in January, as Keiko noted. 10) Japan, U.S. South Korea agree to continuously urge North Korea to agree on codifying sampling YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) December 8, 2008 (Takeo Miyazaki, Jun Kato, Beijing) Chief envoys of the six party talks on North Korea's denuclearization from Japan, the U.S., and South Korea met at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on the afternoon of Dec. 7 to coordinate views on the eve of their next round to be resumed on the 8th after a lapse of five months. U.S Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill detailed his meeting with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan in Singapore on Dec. 4-5 to Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director General Akitaka Saiki and South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry's Director of Korean Peninsula TOKYO 00003327 007 OF 009 Peace Negotiations Kim Sook. According to Hill, the gap remained wide in the U.S.-North Korea talks over the issue of putting an accord on the sampling of nuclear materials into writing. They reaffirmed they would to continue to urge the North to respond to their call. The three chief negotiators also agree on the view that the three countries in close cooperation should discuss when to complete the second phase of the disabling of existing nuclear facilities, which includes codifying sampling, the North's denuclearization, and energy aid to the North. Coordination is likely to be carried out mainly on the idea of ending the second phase by March 2009. Saiki told reporters after the trilateral meeting: "Tough negotiations are expected as the gap remains big between the U.S. and North Korea. ... We would like to create a verification framework that will not allow various interpretations afterward." 11) Six-party talks to resume today; Government eager to search for new route to break impasse on abduction issue NIKKEI (Page 2) (Slightly abridged) December 8, 2008 The six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization will resume in Beijing on Dec. 8. No progress has been made on the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents, and the government has begun to search for new routes to break the impasse in an attempt to seek cooperation from European countries that have established diplomatic ties with North Korea and by other means. Japan is trying to contact North Korea in the six-party talks this time and urge it to immediately launch a reinvestigation into the whereabouts of the abduction victims. In Japan-North Korea talks in August, North Korea promised to complete a reinvestigation to the extent possible by fall, but it has delayed the reinvestigation while citing such reasons as the Japanese political situation. Foreign Ministry Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Director General Akitaka Saiki told reporters in Beijing on the 7th that Japan has urged the North to respond to Japan's call for bilateral talks. A senior Foreign Ministry official said: "We will ask the U.S. to push the North to agree to hold talks with Japan." But a ruling party member commented: "It is uncertain how effectively pressure from the Bush administration in its last days will work." The government dispatched in mid-November Kyoko Nakayama, special advisor to the prime minister on the abduction issue, to Britain and Germany, both of which have diplomatic ties with North Korea. Nakayama had visited Asian countries that have diplomatic relations with North Korea, such as Mongolia, but she had never visited European countries on her mission before. The aim of the visit was "to rebuild the net around North Korea in cooperation with European countries, which take a strict stance toward human-right issues," according to a government source. In a conference of the Abduction Issue Taskforce held at the Prime Minister's Office in late October, with the participation of representatives from the relevant government agencies, Deputy Chief TOKYO 00003327 008 OF 009 Cabinet Secretary Uruma, who used to be a member of the National Police Agency, emphasized the need to increase contact points with North Korea. He said: "It is imperative to consider how to explore routes to have Japan's messages conveyed to a special agent directly connected with the party and the military, which conducted the abductions." A government source analyzed the Uruma remarks: "It would be desirable to set up another supplementary route to diplomatic routes, which are the basis of negotiations." The government intends to work on the North Korean military, but there is the danger of Japan's approach fall into dual diplomacy unless both sides make close contact. 12) DPJ President Ozawa: Large military force unnecessary in Okinawa MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) December 6, 2008 When asked by the press corps about his view on the realignment of U.S. bases in Japan, centering on the relocation of the Futenma Air Station (Ginowan City in Okinawa Prefecture) to land inside Camp Schwab (Nago City),Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) President Ichiro Ozawa said on Dec. 5 in Haebaru-cho, Okinawa: "I think the presence of U.S. military in the Far East is necessary. But I don't think a large-scale military is needed in Okinawa. We must make efforts to resolve this issue through talks between the two countries." 13) ASDF withdrawal from Iraq: Assistance unit to leave for Iraq TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 26) (Full) December 6, 2008 In line with the return of an Air-Self Defense Force (ASDF) unit engaging in an airlift operation in Iraq before year's end, a ceremony for the formation of a unit to assist its withdrawal took place at ASDF Komaki Air Base in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture. The unit is called a withdrawal operation unit, consisting of approximately 70 ASDF personnel assigned to ASDF bases throughout the nation. They will leave Japan on commercial planes on December 6 and 7. They will engage in such work as removing tents and disposing of office equipment and return home next March. Meeting the press prior to the formation ceremony, Colonel Samugae noted, "We would like to perform our duty with the determination that we should clean the place up before we leave." The ASDF, based in Kuwait, has been engaging in the airlift of personnel of the UN and multinational forces, including the U.S. military, to Iraq since March 2004. An order to pull out of Iraq was issued in November this year. The members of the unit will return home in late December. 14) ASDF troops in Iraq airlifted approximately 30,000 multinational troops TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 26) (Abridged slightly) December 6, 2008 TOKYO 00003327 009 OF 009 The situation of the Air-Self Defense Force (ASDF) unit in Iraq, which is to withdraw before year's end, was revealed on December 5. The airlift operation it conducted between Kuwait and Iraq beginning in March 2004 encompassed 815 flights. About 46,000 personnel and 671 tons of goods were carried. ASDF Chief of Staff Kenichiro Hokazono revealed these figures during a press conference. He steered clear of revealing the details of the airlifted personnel. However, it can be assumed that if the 5,500 Ground Self-Defense Force personnel who pulled out of Iraq in 2006 used the service to enter and leave the country, the remaining number of airlifted personnel would come to 35,000. If the number of UN staff members also airlifted by the ASDF is subtracted, based on former Prime Minister Abe's Diet reply given last year, the remaining 30,000 people would have been multinational troops, mainly U.S. forces. 15) WTO: Chairman's proposal calls for limiting key items to 4 PERCENT of all: Japans' proposal for 8 PERCENT turned down YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full) December 1, 2008 The chairmen of the agricultural, and mined and manufactured goods negotiations groups at the new multilateral trade talks (Doha Round) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) released on December 6 their proposals, which will serve as working drafts for an framework agreement to be reached at an informal ministerial meeting to be held possibly in mid-December. The chairman's proposal for the agriculture sector limits the number of key items eligible for a reduction in the margin of imposed cuts in tariffs to 4 PERCENT of all items -- 1,332. With its request for 8 PERCENT turned down, Japan, which wants to protect its domestic agriculture against low-priced imported agricultural goods, has been driven into a corner. The chairman's proposal followed the specifics presented by Secretary General Pascal Lamy at a ministerial meeting in July. It noted that the ratio of key items, such as rice, can be increased from 4 PERCENT to 6 PERCENT as an exception, if a compensatory measure of increasing an import framework for low-tariff goods is taken. Concerning rice, Japan at present imposes an import tariff of 341 yen per kilogram. However, if an agreement is reached as proposed, it would be mandated to lower the rice tariff to between about 180 yen and 260 yen. Chances are that rice imports would increase, dealing a major blow to domestic farmers. A ministerial meeting to discuss the chairmen's proposal is expected to be held before the end of December. Talks at the Doha Round failed to reach a framework agreement in July. Out of concern about the rise of global protectionism, an early agreement had been sought at the financial summit and the Association of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in November. SCHIEFFER