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