MEETINGS BETWEEN USG AND JAPANESE GOVERNMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 001452 SIPDIS CA/VO FOR TIM SMITH AND ABBY RUPP CA/P/IP FOR DIANE BEAN AND MARY DOETSCH, EAP/J FOR BRYAN ALEXANDER E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2019 TAGS: CVIS CMGT ASEC PTER PGOV PREL JA SUBJECT: MEETINGS BETWEEN USG AND JAPANESE GOVERNMENT DELEGATIONS REGARDING HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE 6 (HSPD-6) REF: A. TOKYO 00872 (2209) ¶B. TOKYO 002876 (2008) ¶C. TOKYO 00993 (2008) ¶D. AND TOKYO 04663 (2006) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. A delegation from Washington comprised of representatives from the Department of State and the Terrorist Screening Center, supported by Embassy Tokyo, met with Japanese government officials in Tokyo on June 4 and 5 to discuss a possible agreement related to the sharing of terrorist screening information, as outlined in HSPD-6. The USG delegation presented the benefits of reaching an agreement and outlined the proposed encounter procedures in detail. The Japanese side was well-prepared and, in contrast to previous meetings on the topic, well represented. USG and GOJ Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials also participated in a section-by-section discussion of the Model Arrangement. While the large Japanese representation and the detailed discussion of the proposal were seen as positive steps, the lack of a mechanism to promote and facilitate communication and cooperation between GOJ agencies and ministries is likely to remain an obstacle to reaching an agreement in the near term. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) A five -person Washington delegation with representatives from CA/P/IP, L/CA and the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) met in Tokyo June 4-5 with 13 officials from the Government of Japan (GOJ),representing six ministries and agencies, to discuss a proposal to share terrorist screening information, as outlined in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6). One June 4 a discussion of the HSPD-6 program and encounter procedures was held between the USG delegation, led by Mary Doetsch, Deputy Director of CA,s office of International Programs, and the GOJ delegation, led by Katsuro Nagai, Director of International Counter-terrorism Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Representatives from the Embassy's Consular, FBI/Legatt and Homeland Security sections also participated in the meetings. Additional GOJ representatives included the Cabinet Intelligence Research Office, the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Justice, the Public Security Intelligence Agency and the Japan Coast Guard. The Japanese delegation paid close attention to the presentations, often asking questions. Of particular interest to the Japanese side were the issues of confidentiality, access to information, methods of contributing information and expectations of the USG regarding the quantity of shared information. ¶3. (C) On June 5 the USG delegation met separately with Nagai and Maiko Fujiwara of the same office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a section-by-section review of the Model Arrangement. During the meeting, Nagai and Fujiwara scrutinized the most recent version (May 2009) as well as previous versions and posed several question related to the differences between the versions. The USG representatives explained that most of the changes were made to improve and clarify the document and were not substantive in nature. ¶4. (C) At the conclusion of the meeting, Nagai called the sessions productive and comprehensive and thanked the US side for the flexibility shown. While he agreed to begin internal discussions with other agencies to try to resolve long-standing GOJ communication and cooperation issues, he did not commit to a time frame for further HSPD-6 discussions. He emphasized that the GOJ was not yet at a stage to begin "polishing the language of the agreement," explaining that it will take some time to reach consensus. He pointed out that the data to be shared is not in MOFA,s hands and that a "certain level of political decision" would be necessary to move forward. He concluded by saying that MOFA had to "convince other agencies that we need to meet your expectations." ¶5. (C) COMMENT. The large turn-out for the June 4 meeting and the willingness to review the Model Arrangement in detail were positive signs of engagement. However, Nagai,s concluding remarks reiterated the difficulty the GOJ would have in agreeing to share information and identifying one point of contact for the agreement. The issue appears to be not primarily with the principle of the proposal, but with the inability, and in come cases, unwillingness of the various GOJ agencies to share information and work together. One possible solution to this is multiple points of contact TOKYO 00001452 002 OF 002 on the GOJ side, although Embassy FBI/Legatt advised against this option. Embassy Tokyo will continue to follow up with MOFA and work with other related agencies to move the process along. END COMMENT. ZUMWALT