Japanese Media Spins U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue

UNCLAS TOKYO 001739 DEPT FOR EAP/J, EAP/C, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA/PRS; WHITE HOUSE/NSC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO JA CH SUBJECT: Japanese Media Spins U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue ¶1. Summary. The Japanese press gave the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (July 27-28) detailed coverage that has yet to abate. While much of the press reaction has been positive and supportive of the initiative, segments of the Japanese media have (possibly deliberately) distorted the President's message at the forum about the U.S.-China relationship being "as important as any bilateral relationship in the world" to being "more important than other bilateral relations." Some dailies also have misread the U.S. policy to more closely engage China as being at the expense of the U.S.-Japan Alliance. End summary. ¶2. Although President Obama's speech opening the two days of bilateral ministerial-level talks with China was accurately reported in the English press and some segments of the Japanese media, an egregious mistranslation appeared in other media segments. Kyodo filed an English report correctly quoting the President as saying, "The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world." Perhaps intentionally, the conservative Sankei, in a Washington-filed report by Hideya Yamamoto, quoted the President -- in the headline and the text -- as saying, "U.S.-China relations are more important than any other bilateral relationship in the world." The Sankei went on to conclude, "The G-2 argument, in which the two major powers determine the world order, is looming behind the statement." ¶3. The same translation error appeared in TV-Asahi's morning and evening news and TBS's morning and noon news on Tuesday. Although TV-Tokyo made the same error in its morning news, the station later aired a corrected translation of the President's statement. NTV and Fuji-TV only noted that the President called U.S. relations with China "important." ¶4. As a result of misreading the President's words and U.S. intentions, misleading articles appeared on July 30 in some dailies, fed by the fears of unnamed Foreign Ministry sources. The Mainichi was the worst offender, with an analytical report of the "G-2 system now in motion" that stated, "The Japanese government is alarmed, suspecting that a closer U.S.-China relationship might end up creating a chance for the two countries alone to handle a variety of issues in Asia." The article even called a proposed trilateral dialogue "a double edged sword that might end up forcing Japan to blindly follow in the footsteps of the U.S. and China." It noted that worried senior MOFA officials preferred the status quo: "They want to maintain the two versus one paradigm of facing up to China based on the Japan-U.S. alliance." ¶5. To set the record straight and curb the press frenzy, the liberal Tokyo Shimbun in a July 30 editorial chided as incorrect those media reports that claimed President Obama referred to the U.S.-China relationship as being "the most important." After correctly quoting the President, the editorial went on to say, "Such meticulous wording was done out of consideration for Japan and other allies, and because the President has no illusion that the U.S. and China will agree on every issue." The editorial, after correctly assessing the U.S. motives and intentions for setting up the dialogue, concluded with this caution: "If these two countries....clash, there will be no hope for the 21st century. In that sense, we welcome the start of the dialogue." ZUMWALT